“We have got to work hard in every department of our game.”
That’s how captain Dwight Yorke summed up the requirements for Trinidad and Tobago to get a positive result in their 2006 World Cup qualifier against the United States at the Rentschler Field on Wednesday from 8pm.
The Sydney FC striker was speaking on the eve of the match following a training session with the “Warriors” in Hartford. The team worked out twice with light sessions, one closer to match time at the venue for the game shortly after the US team trained. Head coach Leo Beenhakker allowed his players to go through some routine drills and more or choose their own exercises as they got ready for the encounter.
The forward practiced their shooting with services from the sides from Chris Birchall, Cyd Gray, Collin Samuel and Densill Theobald. Kansas City Wizards’ Scott Sealy and Stern John were particularly sharp in their shooting while Yorke was as ever clinical in his approach. It was good signs for Beenhakker who was also feeling safe without any further potential injury problems.
“It’s definitely going to be a difficult game for us and it means that we must work in every department of our football for this game,” Yorke told TTFF Media after the training. An ESPN camera crew was also on hand to get a final glimpse of the “Warriors” getting ready.
The aim is a win but even failure to come away without a point will not mean the end of hopes for Yorke and his men as matches to follow at home to Guatemala on September 3 and then away to Costa Rica the same week will no doubt prove crucial in the race for third and fourth spot.
“But we definitely want a positive result here. The Americans have come a long way and they are ranked very high right now. They were certainly no pushovers in their recent match against England and that says a lot,” Yorke added. “But I think we have a had a decent build up to the game and once we can put everything together on the day then we certainly can come away with something.”
Beenhakker has been careful in his preparations because he knows it could be a close game and every bit of preparedness could be a key in the final result.
“We know what the US can offer and I am sure they might be thinking the same of us because there is a history between both countries on the football pitch. But we have prepared and everything matters on how best we can get it together as a team on the pitch when the whistle goes and I mean everything depends on that,” Beenhakker stressed.
A number of T&T fans are expected to be in the stands with some 20,000 tickets already sold for the game and possibly even more as kick off approaches.
US coach Bruce Arena says he expects T&T to be defensive in their approach.
“They are different now from having one coach to the next one now and they will place a lot of emphasis on defending and I think they will be elated to get three points. They will try to keep the game even for as long as possible and that will require good organization which I think the new coach has brought to the team now… they have a good unit,” Arena said. When asked to comment on the last meeting when USA won 2-1 in February, he replied: “That game has nothing to do with this one There are no similarities, it’s different players, different coaches and a different situation”
“We have no injuries in the camp now. There is no reason not to believe that we can’t get three points. Claudio has looked good and pretty fit and he wants to be here. They will obviously feel better and be really ready to go on Wednesday.
Reyna expects to face an organized T&T side.
“Since Beenhakker has taken over they have been a very organized team. They always have good attacking players in Dwight Yorke and Stern John with a lot of experience and they are athletic. They have a big physical presence in the back. From all the reports since he (Beenhakker) has taken over they have been very organized and with a lot of disciplined. I think it’s going to be tough for us to break them down. We have to be patient and be careful of their counter attack especially with them being the road team I think that will be their game plan,” Reyna said. Missing from the USA side will be Eddie Johnson, DaMarcus Beasley and Eddie Pope while T&T is without Brent Rahim and Carlos Edwards.