National team captain Dwight Yorke was an elated man following Trinidad and Tobago’s remarkable 2-1 win over Mexico on Wednesday night. But he is calling on his teammates and the country by extent not to get carried away before they can over step the next hurdle in the playoff against Bahrain scheduled for Hasely Crawford Stadium on November 12 and away four days later.
“This is a fantastic result and everyone should be happy. But we know that the job is not complete yet. We have put ourselves in a fantastic position by completing the job tonight but we got two games ahead of us and again I keep saying let’s not get ahead of our time. But we should enjoy the occasion which is a special occasion for everybody,” Yorke said after the win.
As to how his leadership qualities was able to rub off on the rest of the team especially under the extreme pressure the “Warriors” were under after going a goal down and getting the news that Guatemala were up 3-0 at the same time over Costa Rica, Yorke explained : “I guess I have been fortunate to be in a very unique position, playing for Man U and winning a lot of things there and I know what it takes as top players to get through difficult times. With my experience coming back here, again you look back on ’89 and realize where you might have gone wrong and even though I was a kid then, this is another unique situation for us and I just don’t want it to go by this time. This is a very special moment for everybody in this country including the players. The people of Trinidad and Tobago have been fantastic in supporting the players. Again we all have to stay together and not get carried away because the hard work has been done.”
Double goalscoring hero Stern John who became T&T’s leading World Cup scorer with 17 goals, bypassing Steve David in the process, said he wasn’t concerned with the record,
“It’s always good to score goals and to get the victory for the teams. I think along the way if I break records and stuff it’s only added bonus but the main thing is really to qualify for the World Cup. That (record) is not really important to me right now,” John said.
“The feeling is really great and this is big times for us. It was a massive victory for us today for the country and the whole Caribbean. I think as a footballer especially as a striker, when you miss chances, it’s not about that but it’s about how you react after you miss the chances. I think if we had gotten another penalty I would definitely have stepped up and want to kick it because that is the kind of person I am. I ‘m not the one to shy away from responsibilities. But I showed great character in keeping myself together and when I got my chances I put the goals away. I’m a man and I take it on the back. It’s a really good time for me to get back into my scoring ways.
I think the team has grown in stature and it showed on the football pitch. That’s the making of a good team. We would have probably thrown the towel in and go on to lose by three or four goals but the courage the guys have shown tonight, my hat goes off to them because that’s what it takes to win football games. We stick together and we grind the results out and that turned out to be a fantastic result for us.
“I think I took my goal well. Even in practice, myself, Russell and Dwight, we go competitions to see who has the better left foot so I think I probably have the better left foot now,” said John added a special touch to the night by leading the entire team to greet children from the Princess Elizabeth’s Home before their warm up.
Yorke, in his closing statements, added “The message from the players is to keep the faith. We are going in the right direction but again let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We know there are two games remaining and tonight is a fantastic result and rightly so everyone should enjoy it. But then it’s back to drawing board in less than a month’s time and let’s see where we go from there.”