Sport

T&T, Costa Rica in big clash

port of spain, trinidad, cmc

FIVE DAYS AFTER grabbing a dramatic win over Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago will go in search of another victory in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying final round when they meet Costa Rica in San Jose tonight.

With seven points from their seven matches, Trinidad & Tobago can go joint-third in the standings providing they can pull off a win before the Costa Rican home crowd at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa.

The top three teams qualify automatically for the World Cup while the fourth placed team enters a play off in the Asian Confederation Zone.

The Soca Warriors left Trinidad yesterday and after a stop over in Miami, were expected to arrive in Costa Rica at 9:11 p.m. Eastern Caribbean time.

Light workout

Following their 3-2 win over Guatemala, head coach Leo Beenhakker took the team through a light workout on Sunday ahead of their scheduled departure for Costa Rica.

The team is expected to engage in two training sessions on Tuesday ­ a morning and a night session with both scheduled for the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium.

Beenhakker has made one change to the squad with Wrexham defender Dennis Lawrence replacing Avery John who will sit out the match because of two yellow cards.

National Quarries North East Stars player Glenton Wolfe has also been added to the roster as a 19th player.

Trinidad & Tobago will be going all out for a win, especially since they still possess the momentum from the spectacular victory against Guatemala on Saturday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

The last outing between the two teams in March finished in a nil-all draw in Port of Spain and the Soca Warriors will look to change this by grabbing full points.

Coventry City's Stern John will once again lead the Trinidad & Tobago attack, supported by the sublime Falkirk front man Russell Latapy who created a huge impact against Guatemala, his first game since breaking his retirement from international football.

Captain Dwight Yorke will also look to reproduce his sterling performance in the last game while Luton's Carlos Edwards, St Johnstone's Jason Scotland and Port Vale's Chris Birchall will look to stamp their authority in midfield.

There will be some worries over the Trinidad & Tobago defence which has already conceded 12 goals in the competition to date.
Further, Trinidad & Tobago will know they possess the perfect opportunity to make strides in the standings especially with the weaker teams, Panama and Guatemala likely to lose points as they come up against giants Mexico and the United States respectively on Wednesday.

SQUAD: Kelvin Jack, Shaka Hislop, Ian Cox, Dennis Lawrence, Atiba Charles, Cyd Gray, Silvio Spann, Brent Sancho, Marvin Andrews, Glenton Wolfe, Russell Latapy, Carlos Edwards, Dwight Yorke, Chris Birchall, Aurtis Whitley, Densill Theobald, Stern John, Scott Sealy, Jason Scotland.