Trinidad and Tobago will be pressing for the advantage away from home when they face off with Central American giants Costa Rica in their 2006 World cup qualifier at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium, San Jose from 8pm (10pm T&T time).
Team captain Dwight Yorke says he foresees a “very difficult” match for the Warriors but is not counting out the possibility of a positive result, particularly on the back of a inspiring come from behind 3-2 win over Guatemala in Port of Spain on Saturday.
A charter flight will be arriving in San Jose through the efforts of team sponsor TSTT as well as CLICO with Honourable President Max Richards and other fans coming to support the ‘Warriors’. FIFA Vice President Jack Warner will also be on hand to witness the affair.
Yorke and company awoke for a 9am breakfast and had their first session in San Jose at 11am on Tuesday followed by a second one at 7pm.
With the match being played on artificial surface, coach Leo Beenhakker made a request for two sessions and was allowed to conduct two separate one hour sessions.
Following a five-hour stay in Miami after leaving Port of Spain at 9am, T&T’s footballers set out on the journey to San Jose and touched down around 7:15pm, Costa Rican time and were immediately escorted through immigration before having to brace through a heap of Costa Rican media with several TV cameras surrounding the team bus, making the entrance to the bus at least a couple minutes longer than anticipated.
Upon arrival at the TryP Corobici Hotel, the “Warriors” were greeted by more cameramen, including a couple who have been camping out at the hotel since early Tuesday morning which started much earlier as the sun is fully up from 5:30 here.
“It’s nothing new in football,” Beenhakker said. “But we are here for a match and we know it will be played on an artificial turf. There’s nothing to complain about but to just go and get on with our game.”
Defender Brent Sancho, because of his dreadlocks was mistaken by reporters for Russell Latapy and some of his teammates couldn’t resist laughing at him being to get through some shouting “Russell, Russell, how do you feel?”
“Obviously we’re here to try and get a result. A victory would be great but we know that Costa Rica are also on a high and they will be going all out to get the three points,” Sancho said.
The morning session was watched by a host of Costa Rican media as the “Warriors” went through their paces, getting accustomed to the new surface. The conditions were cool with a strong wind coming across the tight venue which puts the fans virtually on the backs of the players on the pitch.
And having played here alongside Latapy when Costa Rica won 3-0 back in 2001, Yorke said his team is prepared for anything on the night.
“The surface is not a problem at the moment. But we expect it to be a difficult match for us. We know that the Costa Rican fans will be trying to make it very hard for us on the night but it’s not something that should throw us off. I am hoping to be part of a very entertaining game because we know that our team is a good one offensively and so are the Costa Ricans,” Yorke told TTFF Media. “But in saying that, we need to be as tight as possible at the back and ensure that we don’t give anything away.”
Latapy has been most popular among the people here who have jumped at every opportunity to shake hands or take photos with the him.
“We know it’s going to be tough out there because this is the time where all the teams will be trying to get results. But at the same time, there’s no reason for us to feel we can’t get something out of this match,” Latapy said.
Costa Rican head coach Alexandre Guimaraes has been suspended for the match after being ejected in the last game versus Panama. The homeside will undoubtedly look to the services of Ronald Gomes, Paulo Wanchope, Winston Parks, Jafet Soto and Walter Centeno.
Beenhakker added: “It’s not anything big because he (Guimaraes) isn’t playing. We must be as ready as we can be and try to get the best result possible.”
A victory will push T&T to ten points, same as Costa Rica while the T&T faithful will be hoping for Mexico to do their job on Panama and likewise USA on Guatemala.