Despite eight months of dormancy in our football, the draw for the FIFA world Cup Brazil 2014 has raised the paws of our gullible football fanatics.
With little or no preparation at all, there are those who will still vouch for the Soca Warriors successful passage through the second round teams Bermuda, Barbados and Guyana.
The absolute belief that none of these teams could stop our flow into the third round is tantamount to a lack of understanding the value of team preparation, especially when its so clear that the national senior programme was set well behind the eight ball for that trip to Brazil.
In less than a month, these young men are faced with an opponent who defeated them in the last world Cup encounter. Bermuda was not expected to be a factor in that match, but they scored two goals in front of thousands of Warrior fans at the Marvin Lee stadium.
T&T’s biggest challenge in the early matches happens to be the players themselves, all of whom will not understand their readiness or lack of it, when they take the field on September 2.
I wish winning a match was as easy as the fans riding on the shadows of their star players, knowing fully well that there was very little preparation which would offer adequate proof that we are better than the three opponents right now.
There are those who believe that getting fit in that short space of time could hardly bring the sharpness of the players, their mental strength, and their composure in the midst of rebuilding a team.
History has not shown that our national senior teams of the past were winners because of their superb fitness. They were excellent team players who understood the value of good cohesive methods of keeping possession in key areas of the field.
Today, we search for the mind of the player, hoping that extraordinary ability was far more essential and these ingredients can muster the outstanding performances of some of the fine teams in the fifties, sixties and seventies. I do not recall a team of players at the national level being jeered off the field because of a lack of fitness.
Coach Otto Pfister has been trying to follow a pattern which he may have to see his players dig deep for their maximum fitness and return to the business of entertaining football.
I have been asked the question many times over about the current crop and the realism of their dream to reach the finals in Brazil in 2014.
Some may wish to assess today’s players as being extremely talented, but do not have any ideas which encourage the brain to function, and the body parts to earn credits. Having shared these issues which few can guarantee, there is hardly ever a country whose current form links solidly with success in the next world Cup.
So let us thread carefully and make serious demands on the ruling body to make a drastic attempt to pull off the most dramatic turnaround where minimal overall preparedness can push our team to the finals. Surely, there is every good reason why this coming crop of players all had the exposure, the experience, and the mental strength to be a major factor in the final six teams.
With two world Junior championships participation in 2007 and 2009 respectively, it seems clear that a cadre of young talent has risen and rearing to face the real world of soccer.
But, despite the fact that they are all very enthusiastic about the things they can do with the ball, there are quite a number of them whose unselfish approach to their teammates and the game as a whole, will offer glimpses of brilliance, and develop the level of chemistry needed at the world Cup.
One thing is certain, the picture is clearly in our faces and ignoring it will be detrimental. There is no choice but hard work for the entire month, with the home based players making great sacrifices in order to become a cohesive lot on the field.
If Kenywne Jones, Carlos Edwards and Kareem Hyland show up nearer to match time, then their presence will be the icing on the cake. But remember, our opponents are not the targets, our consciences must provide the light at the end of the tunnel.