Forget about the fact that the great Michel Platini and other global footballing dignitaries are in town. Think instead about closing down Guatemala's inspirational captain and goalscorer Carlos Ruiz.
I'm sure our players know this already. Still, they need to be constantly reminded that there's a very long way to go in the journey to South Africa 2010, and all it takes is a dose of overconfidence, an air of complacency or something as miniscule as a momentary lapse in concentration to burst the balloon of optimism that has been gradually inflating over the past two-and-a-half weeks.
Despite the apparent permanent discarding of Stern John and the surreptitious manner in which Chris Birchall was dropped for this game, there seems to be a real spirit building within the Trinidad and Tobago squad ahead of tomorrow's second CONCACAFÂ semi-final round World Cup qualifier at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
But, as those involved in sport at the highest level know only too well, you're only as good as your last performance. So it really shouldn't be an issue whether returning veteran superstar Dwight Yorke is handed the captain's armband (with coach Francisco Maturana's approval, of course!), or if fellow Tobagonian Cyd Gray again leads out the team as he did in Havana, in the continued absence of the injured Aurtis Whitley.
All that matters, in the context of making it to a second consecutive World Cup finals, is how Trinidad and Tobago play the 90-plus minutes of football from 5.30 p.m. tomorrow. Indeed, it should be of no consequence whether the place is packed out or more than half-empty, for the players must have the desire from within, even if it will obviously be a lift to have vociferous thousands cheering you on from the stands.
However we're dealing with Trinbagonians here, an aggregation of ambivalent bandwagon-jumpers (including yours truly). So unless one or two of our players just fell from a zaboca tree, national indifference could hardly be offered as a legitimate excuse for the team failing to give of their very best, for most would have experienced first-hand how notoriously fickle we can be as so-called supporters.
It is for others much more knowledgeable on the game of football and the specifics of Trinidad and Tobago taking on Guatemala to assess the strengths and weaknesses of both sides and offer an opinion as to how the game might unfold, or venture to suggest who will prevail and claim the vital three points, assuming that the game doesn't end in a stalemate.
Yet you don't have to be a Shaka Hislop, dressed to kill on the ESPN set and drawing on the wisdom of so many years in goal at the very highest level, to appreciate that such intangible elements like desire and discipline are as integral to success as any tactical master plan that Senor Maturana can formulate.
In a country that is wonderful at planning but grossly inefficient when it comes to implementation, it is about benefiting from all the training pitch drills and the planning for dead-ball situations, then executing in the heat of battle. Anybody can be a starboy at practice, but very few are capable of delivering when it really counts.
Even the great Platini, pulling the strings in a French midfield alongside such delightful talents as Alain Giresse, Jean Tigana, Bernard Genghini and Luis Fernandez (Jeezanages, that was football!), couldn't lift his team beyond consecutive World Cup semi-finals appearances in 1982 and 1986, although the Euro '84 title on home soil would have been more than a little consolation.
Of course, at our considerably lower level, just making it to a World Cup-as we did so memorably with the victory in Bahrain almost three years ago-is celebrated as if we were lifting the prized trophy itself. So don't get tied up and think of the comparison as wholly inappropriate and an attempt to belittle the French maestro's deeds for club and country.
It's just that anyone, at any standard, no matter how accomplished they are, can be faced with a challenge that they find extremely difficult, if not impossible, to overcome.
All we know-it-all hammock-swinging critics can ask for, though, is effort.
Sport is far too unpredictable to make a big deal about us being favourites in our backyard, especially after the opening victory away from home. Keep in mind that the Guatemalans are desperate to get off the mark after losing to the United States at the Estadio Mateo Flores, so even a draw tomorrow, before they return to Guatemala City in pursuit of an emphatic victory against Cubans four days later, will be a welcome result for them.
While it is more than a little encouraging to note the team's recent form and the fact that they have kicked-off this stage of the campaign with an away win, what really matters is being in the top two when the final group standings are compiled after we've hosted Cuba on November 19.
We all want to experience the glory of a World Cup Finals again. But that will only happen by taking things one step at a time. Keep your eyes on the ball, fellas.