T&T’s Soca Warriors have their destiny in their own hands, or should we say in their boots in the coming 12 months.
After a draw with Guatemala and a loss to the USA, the schedule of matches ahead from November 11, 2016 to October 10, 2017 for the Warriors is fixed.
There are some interesting permutations, the most noteworthy being the fact that three of our first four matches are at home. This means that the Hasely Crawford Stadium must become a fortress from this moment, where our players will need the assistance of 25,000 fans to make it as uncomfortable as possible for our opponents, and inspire them to the World Cup for the second time this century.
If we can capture at least seven (7) points from these three encounters, it will be a wonderful kick start to the campaign.
Our first match is against 2014 World Cup quarterfinalists Costa Rica on Friday, November 11, and we must be at our best in all areas to stand any chance of winning that encounter and capturing all three points.
Costa Rica qualified very early but looked vulnerable when they played away to Caribbean neighbours Jamaica. This suggests their unfamiliarity with the conditions, the surface and the type of aggressive football which the Reggae Boys played.
This is something which coach Stephen Hart must take note of and capitilise on. With a full stadium and an aggressive T&T Warriors, I feel certain we can kick start the campiagn with three points.
Our next match is away to Honduras four days later on November 15 (a good sign as this is the date 11 years ago when Dennis Lawrence headed the winner for T&T in Bahrain to put the Warriors on a flight to the World Cup finals in Germany 2006). This is going to be a difficult encounter as Honduras has always proven to be a difficult venue for T&T to get a result. The Honduras authorities ensure that not only the away team, but the away fans and away media suffer in everything before a match. It is an area that our Football Association must be ready for and make the necessary arrangements to overcome as early as possible. If we can leave Honduras with a point, this will inject positive vibes and leave the Warriors upbeat for the rest of the campaign.
The Soca Warriors will next host Panama on March 24, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, and given our history with this team, we have to ensure that we use the home support and surface to its full potential and put Panama on the back foot.
Their football has improved significantly and they will be ready for a battle but there must be a definite plan and objective to ensure that the Warriors break their rhythm.
Again home support is crucial. We should have a capacity crowd at the Stadium to throw behind the Warriors. Red and Ready.
Four days later, on March 28, our opponents will be familiar foes and perhaps the powerhouse team, Mexico, who in recent matches have struggled to defeat T&T, with meetings ending in entertaining draws.
This will be another crucial match for both teams and we should have a good idea of how each team in the hex has been performing by this time since points on the table will be known.
But we have beaten the Mexicans at this venue before and there is no doubt that we have the quality of players to match them on this occasion.
If we are to reach Russia, beating Mexico will have to be on the cards as this could give the world an indication of our worth as it relates to the world stage.
By the end of our first four matches, anything less than eight points will not be good. Nine or ten points must be our minimum target at this stage. If we do better than that and earn 11 or 12 points, that will be super.
But we will be in a definite position, whatever points we have, to guage whether or not this team will be on the flight to Russia.
We are aiming for a top three out of the six teams that will gain us automatic qualification for Russia 2018.
Fourth?
We will be back in familiar territory ala Bahrain 2005.
Fifth and sixth. We just were not good enough.
Which will it be?
The optimist in me says Russia here we come. One, two or three.