T&T face Mexican hurdle
By Kern De Freitas (Trinidad Express)
It's crunch time and Trinidad and Tobago's two-year Journey to Germany 2006 campaign rests on the shoulders of the "Warriors" as they take the field amidst a sea of red at the Hasely Crawford Stadium against the top team in the CONCACAF region, Mexico, from eight o'clock this evening.
By ten tonight, the T&T players will know their fate, in what could be the last match of their World Cup crusade.
Their record against the Mexicans is not the best, and this match will really test the mettle of the national footballers.
In eight World Cup qualifiers between the teams, T&T have lost five times to the Mexicans, winning twice (the last was a 1-0 triumph on a Russell Latapy strike in 2001) and earning one draw.
Last evening, the Warriors had a closed-door session at the venue, preparing for what could be the most important match of their lives. That followed practice on Monday, when they endured a very arduous workout as coach Leo Beenhakker drilled the players to get the best out of them, with heavy emphasis on finishing.
Although not ready to celebrate, captain Dwight Yorke expressed optimism following Monday's session.
"I have no doubt that we're gonna get victory on Wednesday," the Sydney FC player said, "but it's not going to be easy. We all have to prepare as a team which I'm sure that we're all aware of.
"We have to put in 100 per cent to overcome the Mexicans on the night and certainly the crowd playing a significant part, which I'm sure they will be, will only spur us on, to victory hopefully, on the night."
Yorke also warned his players about becoming too relaxed, as the T&T team require a win to secure the fourth CONCACAF spot and make the playoff for a World Cup berth a certainty.
And he has urged the public to be the 12th man at the Stadium.
T&T team scout David Nakhid, who also trained with the squad on Monday, said the players can rise to the challenge.
"There is no secret." Nakhid told the media following the session. "Mexico is one of the best teams in the world, it's going to be an incredibly tough game for them (us) to win, but that's what we need to do, to be sure. We need to win, and it's going to be more than anything else, mental.
"They have to be there, ready from the start to give all, mentally, physically, and with enough spirit in the team I think we can possibly get a positive result."
A win would give T&T the playoff spot to face the fifth-place Asian team, Bahrain or Uzbekistan.
Anything else would mean depending on the Costa Rica/Guatemala tie, which will be played in Guatemala at the same time tonight.
