Bertille St. Clair’s Trinidad & Tobago were surprise survivors from the semi-final stage of North, Central American and Caribbean Zone qualifying. And currently propping up the final-round standings, they are beginning to look like the ‘easy mark’ of the ‘Hexagonal’.
T&T qualified for the final round from the weakest of the three semi-final groups. With only Mexico to worry about, and two spots up for grabs, all they had to do was get by St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent/Grenadines who, despite battling bravely, put up precious little resistance.
There are many in the region who wonder how teams like Canada, Honduras and Jamaica can miss out on the final round while T&T survive. But football is football, and the islanders have shown little sign of improving even with their raft of foreign-based players.
Dwight Yorke, Stern John and Shaka Hislop could do nothing to repel the United States in their first final-round qualifier at home. Despite the visitors being under-prepared, the result of a labour dispute that forced an abbreviated training camp, the Caribbean side looked lifeless in a 2-1 loss at home in February.
Next up came a demoralising 5-1 hammering on the road in Guatemala City on 26 March. Though a win away from home was always going to be a tough ask for the side, their haphazard defending seemed to indicate a lack of grit and determination necessary to compete at the top level.
Finally they got a little closer to the mark in their Saturday 30 March draw with Costa Rica. With a level of fighting spirit conspicuously missing from the Guatemala game, they ground out a 0-0 draw with Costa Rica at home to avoid the ignominy of going into the two-month halt in qualifying with zero points from three matches.
Six points off leaders Mexico and one behind closest side Panama, all is not lost for T&T, though the outlook seems a little bleak for a finish in the top four. With Guatemala in such fine form and sides like Mexico, USA and Costa Rica on the prowl, T&T look to be heading for the breadline.
But coach St. Clair isn’t giving up hope just yet. His appeals for victory sound heartfelt.
“There’s no question about it right now. We need a win and that is final,” the coach remarked. “In the matches before we have always gone for a win but we have nothing to show up to now and now comes the point when only a win will be accepted. The guys are obviously working hard and it is important that they go out there and play the kind of football that they are capable of.”
With a break in qualifying until 4 June, St Clair and his charges will need to make some significant changes if they want to be in with a shout of reaching their first-ever finals.