SOCA Warriors caretaker coach Derek King is welcoming the challenge that will be posed by Honduras in this country's opening 2024/25 Concacaf Nations League A clash at the Estadio Nacional Chelato Ucles, Tegucigalpa, Honduras on September 6. Kickoff in the group B fixture will be 10 pm (T&T time).
The T&T contingent landed in Honduras on September 3, and were expected to have two training sessions on September 4. King, who was appointed to the caretaker role by the T&T Football Association (TTFA) on August 6 after the sacking of Angus Eve, stressed the importance of starting on the right foot in the Nations League A campaign.
"This game here, we need a result in this game. It's very important so let's keep focused," King said, during a team huddle on September 4. "Let's play the game in our minds."
T&T will entertain French Guiana in their second Nations League A match at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Tobago on September 10, and King said the Honduras clash gives the team the chance to give the country an Independence gift.
"We just celebrated our 62nd year of independence. The (TKR) cricket (team) gave them a victory. We need one. The country needs one," he said.
T&T last met Honduras in the 2019/20 Nations League A cycle, going under 2-0 and 4-0 to the Central American team in two fixtures.
Current captain Aubrey David is one of the few players who played in T&T's last visit to Honduras in 2019, and the defender hopes this can be a more fruitful visit for him and his peers.
"Everybody knows the mission and the same goal. Everybody knows what we're in for and everybody is up to the task. It's just to get accustomed to each other in these couple days to give everything on September 6," David told TTFA Media. "We know it's going to be a difficult game, but we just need to stick together and stay united to get the job done."
The 33-year-old defender has plied his trade in Costa Rica, Ecuador and now Guatemala, and he's intent on making his experience count on enemy territory.
"Honduras are home and they're going to be coming with everything. We know the crowd is going to be on their side so I think we just need to stay concentrated and focused because. As long as we continue to do our game plan and keep them out, it's going to be more pressure for them," David said.
King wants his team to embrace and overcome the challenge before them.
"We have a tough task, but I think we have the ability to get a result in this game which is very important."
King said the 100th-ranked Soca Warriors need to show their worth against the 79th-ranked Honduras team.
"I think it's very exciting. The challenge, as I said, is for us to compete with the top teams in Concacaf. We have to come to places like these and get a result as well."
After tackling Honduras and French Guiana, T&T will play a pair of matches against Cuba next month to close off the tournament's group phase.
Group B also includes Nicaragua and T&T's Caribbean rivals Jamaica, but the Soca Warriors will not contest these two teams due to the unique format of the tournament. The top two teams in the group will advance to the quarterfinals to join the two teams from group A and the four seeded teams: Canada, Mexico, Panama and three-time reigning champions USA, who knocked the Soca Warriors out at the quarterfinal stage of the previous Nations League cycle last November.
SOURCE: T&T Newsday