Desperate T&T
Look To Cool Ted-Hot Costa Rica
Aiming for their first win of the current
CONCACAF World Cup qualifying final round
series, Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Warriors
tackle in-form Costa Rica at Dwight Yorke
Stadium today.
It is the first major assignment for new
head coach Russell Latapy, who took over
when Colombian Francisco Maturana was fired
in April.
The fixture is crucial for the Soca
Warriors, who are bottom of the table and
without a win from three games so far in the
six-team play-off that will advance the top
three teams directly to the 2010 World Cup
Finals in South Africa.
Under Maturana's watch, T&T drew with El
Salvador (2-2) Honduras (1-1) and lost 0-3
to the USA.
Latapy is expecting today's encounter to be
tough and has urged his players to pay
particular attention to the calculated style
of series leaders Costa Rica, who are coming
off a fluent 3-1 win over the United States
on Wednesday night in San Jose.
"We expect the game to be a very tactical
one and we have the respect for Costa Rica
because right now they are on top of the
group," Latapy said.
"They (Costa Rica) have always been a
difficult side to break down and the results
show that because we have never beaten them
in a World Cup qualifier before," Latapy
said on Thursday.
The 40-year-old Latapy, who had initially
joined the campaign as player-coach,
conceded that the Soca Warriors enter the
game as underdogs and must play a solid
tactical game to match the Ticos.
"Our approach will also have to be sound and
good tactically because they will obviously
consider themselves favourites in this one,"
Latapy added.
The fixture will be the first World Cup
qualifier ever in Tobago and new stands have
been erected at the small Dwight Yorke
Stadium to boost the ground capacity from
7,500 to 9,000 fans.
T&T captain Dwight Yorke is one of three
Tobagonians in the local squad. Midfielder
Keon Daniel and defender Makan Hislop are
also from Tobago.
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