Yorke hopeful despite tall T&T task
Trinidad and Tobago’s (T&T) Head Coach Dwight Yorke believes they can beat Jamaica and get back into contention for a second FIFA World Cup berth when they host the Reggae Boyz at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain on Thursday.
Jamaica lead the group with nine points after four games, closely followed by Curacao on eight and Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) in third spot on five points.
Anything other than a win and the Twin Republic are out of contention for a World Cup berth as only the group winner will advance.
T&T lost 2-0 to Jamaica in Kingston on September 9, but Yorke says that game showed that they have closed the gap on Jamaica despite the result.
“But we feel as a team, as a unit, that we can get a victory here come Thursday,” Yorke said as his team continued its preparation.
“I mean, where we are, we’ve just come off an unbeaten run in terms of the two away games. I’m sure there’s maybe a little bit of disappointment in terms of not getting maximum points. But anybody who tells you at international level, you go away to play two games and you’ve got four points from it…I’m sure it’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but that’s quite a really good return.
“So we’re going to try and build on that and we know the significance of the Jamaican game.”
Following their defeat to Jamaica, T&T beat Bermuda 3-0 away and drew 1-1 at Curacao. They will now finish their campaign with two home games against Jamaica and Bermuda, aiming to get maximum six points that would take them to 11 points.
“There is no hiding place,” Yorke said. “I’ve always stated that. We have the home advantage. We’ve got a fantastic record here, certainly under my reign, and we’re looking to try and add to that. We know that Jamaica is not going to be pushed over by any means.
“We need to be at our best. Whether we can pull it off, it’s really a touch-and-go scenario. But I can assure you that, certainly from our side, we’re trying everything to.”
But T&T’s fate is really out of their own hands, and they will have to depend on several permutations in their favour to sneak ahead of both Jamaica and Curacao, hoping that both fail to win any of their last two games, which bookies would say is highly improbable.
YORKE…we know that Jamaica is not going to be pushed over by any means.
