With eight games to go after this one, the “Warriors” need to get into the norm of picking points up. That’s what head coach Bertille St Clair has ordered from his players when they take on Guatemala at the Mateo Flores Stadium in Guatemala City from 8pm local time (10pm T&T time) on Saturday.
With Trinidad and Tobago’s next outing at home to Costa Rica on Wednesday, the pressure could slowly mount if the “Warriors” were to come away with nothing to show from Saturday’s affair and the T&T faithful will be looking on with keen eyes from this weekend.
The T&T 18-man squad arrived in Guatemala at 7:30pm on Thursday night and were quickly escorted to the Grand Tikal Hotel after a few fans grabbed the opportunity to get their shirts signed and pictures taken, with Dwight Yorke notably being the most popular with the home fans.
The conditions here have been slightly chilly and the team was expected to get a good feel of the surface at a training session carded for around game time on Friday night.
Most of the morning period following a 9am breakfast was spent reviewing the Guatemalan team on video and holding discussions around the game itself, mindful of the fact that the Guatemalans would be under pressure not to lose any points at home having drawn their previous qualifier with Panama.
But the home side will remember their 4-1 win over T&T at the same venue in a friendly last August. T&T lost defender Marlon Rojas to a yellow card inside the opening 15 and after losing Angus Eve to injury in the pre-match warm up, also lost Arnold Dwarika, Gary Glasgow, Cornell Glen and Derek Phillips to injuries during the encounter. This time around, goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, Brent Sancho, Carlos Edwards, Dennis Lawrence Silvio Spann,Leslie Fitzpatrick, Stern John, Hector Sam, Dwight Yorke and Clayton Ince are all in the T&T squad which should pose a different and hopefully tougher opposition for the Guatemalans.
In other matches between the two nations, T&T won 3-1 at home in a build up to their 2002 qualifier away to Costa Rica and won 4-2 in the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup first round. In past World Cup action, T&T won 2-1 at home and 1-0 at the Mateo Flores Stadium with Philbert Jones and Kerry Jamerson (2) being the scorers during the 1990 campaign. In the 1998 qualifiers, T&T drew 1-1 at home with Jerren Nixon on the mark and then lost 2-1 in the return with Angus Eve netting the lone item.
But St Clair is not thinking about past performance and results whether at home or away..
“Playing away from home is difficult but I always believe that it’s a mindset and it can only be a problem if you think about it that way,” St Clair told TTFF Media on the eve of the match.
“Football is a level playing field and I am quietly confident that we can get a result once we play to our ability and plan. The best way to defend is to go out and attack and I think we need to put some pressure on the home team from the first whistle and exploit their weaknesses,” he added.
Remembering the Rojas sending off as well as mindful of possible yellow card suspensions for future games, St Clair said he hoped that being cautious will not affect T&T’s game.
“Everything is in the hands of the referee so we have to try our best to play to the rules but that must not affect our aggression.
“The team has changed since the last game as we have more experience this time but the same would occur with Guatemala. Hopefully we have prepared well and the evening will end in our favour. You go into every game aiming for three points,” St Clair concluded.
Wrexham striker Sam has not played since scoring the equalizer in the 2-1 win over St Vincent and the Grenadines last November which could leave St Clair starting with Kenwyne Jones up front with John again while Yorke and Edwards will be the trumps in the middle of the pitch with Fitzpatrick and Spann supporting not to forget Eve. Workhorse Marvin Andrews is out through injury which means that Sancho will need to pull all his weight in the back alongside Lawrence, Rojas, Thomas and Nigel Henry in the wait.
“I am positive about us giving a good showing considering too that this is our first game of the round away from home,” said Hislop, who is expected to wear the armband. “It’s important that we settle in quickly and take the game to them rather than sit back and allow them to control. We expect that the atmosphere will be a hostile one but it’s not a first time for us. A good result is certainly beyond us in this one,” added the Portsmouth man.
Guatemalan MLS striker Carlos Ruiz is their biggest threat and head coach Ramon Maradiaga expects his team will get the job done.
“I don’t expect that the game will be an easy one but we will want to make it as difficult for them as well and take advantage of being at home. We know they are capable of good football but we will try to take care of that,” Maradiaga uttered.
American referee Kevin Stott will take charge of proceedings which will be witnessed by CONCACAF President Jack Warner who flew into Guatemala on Friday with his entourage.