Soca Warriors, USA tangle in Group C for 2018 World Cup

[Tallman]

Soca Warriors, USA tangle in Group C for 2018 World Cup
T&T Guardian

Trinidad and Tobago’s senior footballers will have to face the United States both at home and away in Group C of the CONCACAF Semi-final round of World Cup qualification for the Russia 2018 World Cup, beginning in November. This was determined at the preliminary draw held in St Petersburg, Russia yesterday. T&T will face off with the United States and the winners of the St Vincent/Grenadines versus Aruba and Guatemala versus Antigua/Barbuda ties.

It was also determined at the draw that CONCACAF’s fourth placed team will meet Asia’s fifth placed team in the intercontinental playoff for a place in Russia. The top two teams from Group C will advance to the Final Round of Six teams from which the top three automatically qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Finals.

In an immediate response, T&T Senior Team head coach Stephen Hart warned that the Group will be a challenging one.

“The draw is favourable on paper,” Hart told TTFA Media. “But home and away matches are always an  extremely difficult and complex situation. If you look at how Guatemala looked in in the Central American qualification for the Gold Cup, they were almost unbeatable at home and they went all the way to the Final. They can be a very tricky opponent if they get into that round,” Hart added. “And of course we will not take any of the other opponents lightly regardless of who they are.”

Regarding T&T’s build up to the November start of Group C, Hart says it was in T&T’s hands now. “Hopefully we can play on every FIFA Date between then and now and play against similar opposition to what we will meet.

“It’s unrealistic to look at the team’s performance at Gold Cup and think this is just going to transfer itself unto the World Cup qualification. The team needs to prepare properly. If we don’t have proper preparation, things like this are a rolling of the dice.” Hart also thanked the various supporters during T&T’s recent Gold Cup campaign, including the TTFA, the Ministry of Sport, Sportt and all those who contributed in some manner.

“Thanks very much on behalf of the players, myself and the staff. We put everything out there and your support meant a lot to us,” Hart added.

St Vincent and the Grenadines are likely to be tricky opposition. Both teams met in the semi-final stage of the 2006 qualification and it took an Errol McFarlane double in the 80th and 85th minutes to come away 2-0 winners at Arnos Vale. In the return match, T&T came from a goal down to win 2-1 on goals by Angus Eve and Hector Sam in the closing seven minutes. Guatemala proved to be formidable opponents for T&T in the semi-final phase in 2008 and the final round in 2005.

In 2008, T&T and USA were also in the same semi-final group for the 2010 qualifiers with T&T coming in second, defeating the US 2-1 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on goals by Russell Latapy and Dwight Yorke.

CONCACAF SemiFinal Groups
Group C: USA, T&T, St Vincent and the Grenadines/Aruba, Antigua and Barbuda/Guatemala.
Group A: Mexico, Honduras, Curacao/El Salvador, Canada/Belize.
Group B: Costa Rica, Panama, Grenada/Haiti, Jamaica/Nicaragua

[soccerman]

I wonder what's our plan between now and WCQ's? Are we still playing Haiti in October?

[frico]

I feel confident we will make it out of that group,could even win it,but I see Jamaica's group as very,very difficult,all the best to them anyway.

[Tallman]

Hart prepares for 'tricky' start to 2018 World Cup qualification bid
TTFA Media

Trinidad and Tobago head coach Stephen Hart says he had already began mapping out plans for this country’s opening fixture in the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign even before Tuesday’s round of qualifying matches.

T&T will face Guatemala on November 13th in Guatemala City after the Central Americans held off Antigua/Barbuda 2-0 in their home leg match on Tuesday night. That result overturned a 1-0 result in favour of Antigua from the first leg. The other team confirming their spot in T&T’s semi-final round group is St Vincent/Grenadines which held off a tricky Aruba outfit.

T&T's second game will be at home to United States on November 17th.

“To be very honest I always thought that is how the group was going to be,” Hart told TTFA Media on Wednesday.

“I always thought we would end up playing Guatemala and this is just a confirmation of how I felt all along.”

Guatemala have always been difficult opponents at home and Hart says he will not judge this assignment based on the 3-1 win for T&T at the Gold Cup when the “Soca Warriors” blew past them in the opening half with three quick fire goals.

“They have always been very difficult opponents at home and I didn’t expect Antigua to go there and steal points. It will be the same for us. This game will be totally different from the one we played in the Gold Cup,” Hart added. T&T's two previous World Cup qualifiers away to Guatemala saw the "Soca Warriors" going down 5-1 in the 2006 campaign and then stealing a valuable point in a 0-0 draw in 2008 during the semi-final round of the 2010 World Cup qualification. Hart knows all too well that the upcoming matches will be crucial.

“The opening game two games are extremely tricky as we have to travel to Guatemala and then travel to play USA at home (Port of Spain) which takes away one day of preparation. But we’ll deal with it. I think right now everyone is very aware of what it will take and our first priority is starting well and securing our place in the final round of qualification and then we take it from there,” Hart added.

The top two teams from each group will progress to the Final Round of six or the Hexagonal or Hex stage which will be played from November 7th 2016 to October 10th, 2017.

The top three teams will automatically qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the fourth place team will enter an intercontinental playoff with the fifth placed team from Asia.

[Trini]

2 of the 3 most difficult games are up first.

Tricky start. And we all know how we need confidence to move forward.

2 points from these 2 games must be the minimum.

Just as important as getting points is denying the opposition extra points, esp Guatemala in that first game. They are our direct competition for that second spot in the group.

Over the last few WCQ Semi final rounds, average is about 11-12 points to get out safely. 6 vs St Vincent and  4 vs Guatemala is required at least. Anything off the US is gravy.

What we should be aiming for though is to get something from the US at home as well, cause they in a bit of downturn at the moment. But u could be sure that they will be back soon.

The other thing we learnt from the GC is how tired we can look playing 2 games in 4 days., esp when the first one takes a lot out of us...we hadda plan properly for this.

This is the group of death, but its also not the best fixture lineup for us. The US will be licking their chops for their first home game vs St Vincent.

[lefty]

steups d USA should get d same amount of respect as Mexico, We need results full stop....done with dat inferiority complex....go out lookin for a result with caution in mind as we did with mexico......cause jus like Mexico and even with dey speed and physicality d state does be uncomfortable when teams run at dem...we don't allow dem to settle we have a chance....simple as dat...........we want a qualifing spot regardless of which, talk done

[OutsideMan]

steups d USA should get d same amount of respect as Mexico, We need results full stop....done with dat inferiority complex....go out lookin for a result with caution in mind as we did with mexico......cause jus like Mexico and even with dey speed and physicality d state does be uncomfortable when teams run at dem...we don't allow dem to settle we have a chance....simple as dat...........we want a qualifing spot regardless of which, talk done

 WELL FRIGGIN' SAID! 

[Trini]

Wow, our football has finally reached.

Man saying we have "inferiority complex" if we go looking for results with caution vs the USA yes lol.

Allyuh men feel CONCACAF WCQ is some FIFA videogame...

Glad allyuh is not the coach of the Warriors.

[lefty]

Wow, our football has finally reached.

Man saying we have "inferiority complex" if we go looking for results with caution vs the USA yes lol.

Allyuh men feel CONCACAF WCQ is some FIFA videogame...

Glad allyuh is not the coach of the Warriors.

Dread u implied dat we should operate like second is the best we should hope for, and i telling u dat approach is flawed.....guat eh no cake walk to begin with and SVG eh goin' an' lie down for we.....so discounting d possibility going out and getting points against d states is folly at best, and utter stupidity at worst.

Even if u want to tink man gettin ahead of deyself, Jamaica provided nuff evidence dat gettin a result against d US is doable, but not if yuh fraid to try.


All I saying

[pull stones]

Wow, our football has finally reached.

Man saying we have "inferiority complex" if we go looking for results with caution vs the USA yes lol.

Allyuh men feel CONCACAF WCQ is some FIFA videogame...

Glad allyuh is not the coach of the Warriors.

it is not my intention to stir the pot but i am in agreement with lefty on this one. we must not find solace in the couple of results we got from the gold cup and a good friendly result against mexico and concluded that we have reached. you must keep in mind the few games we had prior the gold cup were losses to teams that we should have dominated particularly curacao. history has shown us that the united states is never to be taken likely especially when they match up better with us and have very speedy attackers who move the ball faster than a mexico.

we must play every team at this stage with the same level of caution and plug our loop holes tightly, especially guatemala who gave mexico no chances against them, and we must get on the board first and have them open up the game so we can hit them on the counter.

so before we can say that "we reach" we must first fix our defense which is leaking goals in every game we play, which subjects our goal keepers to constant bombardment without cease. we must also raise the speed of our game and be comfortable playing at that pace, which would mean higher intensity training and better fitness. there is also the issue of our passing which is atrocious.

have you watch the last game we played in utah? well even though we scored, our passing left much to be desired. men was passing the ball to the mexicans quite often when they were clearly under no pressure trying to play that splitting pass which failed all of the time. i guess what i am trying to convey is that we must fix these errors and play constantly at this level, and have a total revamp of our league both pro and school where there is a continuum of progress without disturbance. and when we have fixed these problems, then and only then should anyone remotely declare that we have reached, but for now we haven't even began to scratch the surface.

[trini_stallion]

This just dawned upon me... I'm sure, not that I'm comparing.... But I'm sure Germany, Spain, all the power houses have the same discussions about their team play....does anybody ever say yes...our team made it and there are no improvements to be made...I'm not insinuating that we don't have any improvements to be made... I just think that every single team in the works can be critiqued and fans would discuss their opinion in regards to that improvement...one step at a time! Our warriors are on the right track! Belief...and we are growing in belief...is a huge part of it!

[gawd on pitch]

Inferiority complex is due to the years of taking licks from big teams and trying to be "realistic" about the result. The past two years under Hart has shown us that those days of taking licks might be coming to an end. So with that, the inferiority complex should go.

At the same time to, we have some way to go. But we are much more closer than we were two and a half years ago.

USA is probably not that much better since the last time we played them. And there is more than enough proof to argue that we are much better since the last game against the them. I'm sure the USA realizes that.

[Deeks]

The inferiority complex comes about when we don't prepare our team properly. With the exception of 2006, everything else was vye-kee-vye. The special advisor did things his way, which led to constant defeats and the eventual "inferiority complex". Hopefully we are supposedly on the right track this time. Hopefully we are in a new era and common sense will take over.

[Preacher]

Well, we aint really ride the train long enough yet.  It takes belief and evidence to create tradition.  Now mind you before the GC we was still taking licks.  At point we still need to bring all we gear. 

[lefty]

Well, we aint really ride the train long enough yet.  It takes belief and evidence to create tradition.  Now mind you before the GC we was still taking licks.  At point we still need to bring all we gear.

Preacher, I believe in carrying ah spirit of cautious optimism into these games, it will serve us better than calculating d bare minimum and making dat d benchmark for success, the team has proven that we could invest a lil more faith in dem, not overconfidence, but just enough to not break out calculators to chart ah course for second without ah ball even kicking yet............

[socalion]

 Agreed lefty!

[Flex]

Hart: Opening World Cup matches difficult.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).

National coach Stephen Hart admitted yesterday that the opening two World Cup Qualifying matches against Guatemala on November 13 and then the United States four days later, will be difficult encounters.

“I know being away to Guatemala is not an easy task and then the USA in our second match will also be tough” Hart said yesterday at a press conference to launch the new T&T Football Association (TTFA) website at the VIP Lounge of the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo. The Soca Warriors will be looking for a point or at least full points in the Guatemalan capital before an even more difficult test with the US in what is expected to be a grudge match.

Hart said he is rtaking it one step at a time which means his focus is on Guatemala and cannot even think about the USA right now. He is concerned about a few niggling injurties in his camp, particularly to midfielder Ataullah Guerra which means that there will be some rotations in the team.

The influential playmaker has been out for almost a month now with injury and Hart will have to do some chopping and changing against the Guatemalans.

Similar rotation will be done with the players soon after the Guatemala match as Hart tries to put the pieces together, with players who will be coming off injuries and their fitness ahead of the all-important USA clash. But the coach told the media yesterday that striker Kenwyne Jones, who was injured in his last matches against Nicarigua at the Hasely Crawford Stadium has been back in training with his team English Division Two club Cardiff City.

Jones will miss his team’s encounter today with Ipswich Town but is expected to be back in the line-up on Tuesday when the Bluebirds face Leeds United.

Hart who took over the Soca Warriors a few years ago on the recommendations of former coach, Dutchman Leo Beenhakker, told the media that the names of his squad were already submitted ahead of the Guatemala clash and hopefully by next week he will reveal the starting team to the media.   

Meanwhile Hart explained that the recent Concacaf draw which put the Soca Warriors against Haiti in a play-off for a spot in the Copa America Centenario on January 8 in Panama. This match will be the second of a double header that will see the home team Panama facing Cuba. The winners of both matches will join four other Concacaf teams in the South American tournament which, for the firdst time is being held outside of that region.

Hart said he was concerned that the matches were being held on non-FIFA dates which meant that he would not have his full team. “This is a major situation because I will not have all my players, but I have made an approach to the local clubs and have asked them to have the players released for the game and it looks good so far” Hart explained.

The T&T team has been unbeaten in their last few matches but Hart said this achievement was due basically because he had  a good staff as well as players who bought into the idea that was sold to them.

[Tallman]

WATCH: Coach Stephen Hart talks about the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers, the Copa América Centenario playoff match against Haiti, and the status of Kenwyne Jones.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/2HeTkNJEQ_Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/2HeTkNJEQ_Q</a>

WATCH: TTFA President Raymond Tim Kee addresses the media at the launch of the Soca Warriors’ 2018 Road to Russia campaign.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/UhQbw1pDEtE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/UhQbw1pDEtE</a>