GRUDGE MATCH
It's A second-string United States team, but an American national squad nevertheless.
None hurts more than the infamous encounter here on November 19, 1989, when T&T, needing just a draw to qualify for the 1990 World Cup, lost 1-0 to their arch-rivals.
But, it ends today! Or so many believe, including both Trinidad and Tobago's Coventry City midfielder Chris Birchall and former national captain and Falkirk veteran Russell Latapy, as the teams meet from 8.11 p.m. in a crucial 2010 World Cup qualifier at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain.
Yes, the Americans have rested nine players and have just three in Da Marcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Sasha Kljestan (Chivas USA) and Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock) who started on September 11 when the USA won their home leg 3-0 in Bridgeview, Illinois.
Of the current American squad, 14 players have ten caps or fewer and seven are in search of their first appearance in a World Cup qualifier. Two players, Michael Orozco and Troy Perkins, are looking for their first-ever cap for the full team.
But most of the US replacements play at a higher lever than T&T's UK-based players.
Goakeeper Brad Guzan is contracted to English Premier League club Aston Villa; Freddy Adu is with French club AS Monaco; midfielder Maurice Edu is with Scottish champions Glasgow Rangers; Danny Szetela plays for Brescia in Italy; and striker Jozy Altidore is with Spain's Villarreal.
No wonder Trinidad and Tobago assistant coach Anton Corneal said yesterday the Soca Warriors will not underestimate the Americans.
"We are meeting a US team with young players who are trying to prove themselves, so we have to be ready for it," Corneal said. "When you look at the teams, their players are coming from...it's not from the A-League.
"I think the (T&T) team has come out of the Guatemala game with a bit of confidence, knowing that they had to do it against a lot of different parts of the game...the crowd, the referee, the tight game and the physical nature of the game."
And Latapy, the "Little Magician" who at age 40 has been recalled from international retirement to lend his experience to the national team, believes that the time is ripe to end the sequence of poor results against the US.
"We need to go into every game with the same mentality that we are going to win, especially when we play at home. That's why we have home advantage. In playing against the States at home we want to impose the type of football that we play how Trinidadians play football and show our technical ability and the way we have played ever since.
"The essence of Trinidad and Tobago football is what we want to show and obviously we want to come out with three points," said Latapy in an interview earlier this week with Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation media officer Shaun Fuentes.
"We don't want to leave it coming down to the last game. I know on paper everybody is thinking that if it comes down to the last game then we are going to win against Cuba at home."
Latapy feels that confidence among the T&T players has grown considerably after last Saturday's goalless draw in Guatemala City, where they met hostility on and off the field. He thinks it has helped the Soca Warriors.
"I think Guatemala treated us with a lot of disrespect in terms of some of the things they were saying to us. I'm not really a big fan of speaking about referees but he had a lot of wrong calls. He made a lot of home-side decisions, so with us holding out that was saying to me that okay, we've beaten the odds under a really harsh, difficult and aggressive atmosphere we have put ourselves in the driver's seat."
England-born Birchall, not a regular in the Coventry first team but a tireless runner for Trinidad and Tobago, his mother's birthplace, is of the same thinking, especially after the powerful performance when grabbing a draw against Guatemala with a man short for the entire second half.
"Now is the one time we can be confident that we can really give America a game, and not just a good game but also get three points. We will be going all out on Wednesday," Birchall promised.
Warriors hunt full points tonight.
By: Joel Bailey (Newsday).
Trinidad and Tobago and the United States will renew their rivalry from 8 pm tonight in a FIFA World Cup CONCACAF Zone Semi Final Round Group “A” qualifier at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
The kick-off time was set due to the arrangements made by American sports cable television broadcaster ESPN.
Trinidad and Tobago are currently third in the four-team standings with five points, the same as Guatemala but with an inferior goal difference (- 2 compared to Guatemala’s +1).
And the United States have a maximum of 12 points after four matches, including a 3-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in Illinois on September 10.
Trinidad and Tobago’s hopes are high following their hard-fought 0-0 draw away to Guatemala on Saturday, while the Americans annihilated Cuba (the other team in the group) 6-1 to seal a spot in the Final Round.
The hosts will be missing the suspended pair of Cyd Gray and Anthony Wolfe for tonight’s battle, but Silvio Spann have been drafted into the team by coach Francisco Maturana. Spann have not played for TT since the goalless draw against Guadeloupe, on February 6, at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain. “This is a very important game for my country and it’s great to be involved again,” said Spann in a recent interview.
Another midfielder, Russell Latapy, who was recalled as a player/coach last month, said in another interview: “We need to go into every game with the same mentality that we are going to win, especially when we play at home which is why we have home advantage.
“Today we want to impose the type of football that we play, how Trinidadians play football and show our technical ability and the way we have played ever since,” he added. “The essence of Trinidad and Tobago football is what we want to show and obviously we want to come out with three points.”
US coach Bob Bradley, after Saturday’s mauling of Cuba, decided to release nine players, including eight starters (captain Carlos Bocanegra, Michael Bradley, Steve Cherundolo, Brian Ching, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Oguchi Onyewu) and a reserve (Jay De Merit).
In return, he added four players from the Major League Soccer (MLS) - Marvell Wynne, Jonathan Bornstein, Brian Carroll and Chris Rolfe. Carroll and Rolfe were drafted in as replacements for the pair of veteran Pablo Mastroeni (knee) and Robbie Rogers (back), who were injured during MLS matches on Sunday. Both teams held training sessions last evening at the Mucurapo venue, and Bradley, who guided the Americans to the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup title, noted that the mood in the team is good.
“We’re pleased with the results that we’ve had with this round,” he said. “But we also know this is an important game for Trinidad and that they will come out with a lot of energy and we must be ready.”
Concerning the replacement players, he stated, “everyone is here and we feel that everybody is ready to play today. We have a strong 18 and all the players have been under me before so they know what to expect.”
Since the infamous 1-0 win by the United States at the aforementioned venue on November 19, 1989, Trinidad and Tobago have only won once (on November 19 1994) in their last 13 meetings.
With regards to the home advantage, Bradley said, “it’s important (for TT). We know that early on, Trinidad will come with a lot of aggression and we must be smart and we want to be good with the ball, play our way and be technically good with the ball.”
Trinidad and Tobago were criticised for defensive tactics in the September 10 encounter, but Bradley stated, “the tactics from Trinidad that night was to sit back.
“This wouldn’t be the case today,” he added. “Trinidad will, I think, be very aggressive. It’s an important game for them to try to get a leg up on Guatemala. I think they’ll give everything they have.”
He emphasised that he will not encourage complacency to creep into the squad.
“We have challenged the group to understand that we can never take anything for granted,” he said. “We’ll give them an idea what kind of game to expect. They’ll be ready for a very good Trinidad and Tobago team.”
Teams -
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO:
Goalkeepers - Clayton Ince, Marvin Phillip; Defenders - Dennis Lawrence, Avery John, Keyeno Thomas, Gyasi Joyce, Makan Hislop, Akile Edwards, Osei Telesford; Midfielders - Dwight Yorke, Clyde Leon, Russell Latapy, Keon Daniel, Christopher Birchall, Khaleem Hyland, Carlos Edwards, Silvio Spann; Forwards - Andre Toussaint, Cornell Glen, Stern John, Darryl Roberts, Jason Scotland.
UNITED STATES:
Goalkeepers - Brad Guzan, Troy Perkins; Defenders - Jonathan Bornstein, Danny Califf, Frankie Hejduk, Michael Orozco, Heath Pearce, Marvell Wynne; Midfielders - Freddy Adu, Damarcus Beasley, Brian Carroll, Maurice Edu, Sacha Kljestan, Danny Szetela, Jose Francisco Torres; Forwards - Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies, Chris Rolfe.