PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Mar 27, CMC – Trinidad & Tobago will be looking to use the momentum they gained from their victory last Friday against Panama to put up a fierce challenge to CONCACAF giants Mexico in World Cup qualifying on Tuesday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
T&T handed the Panamanians their first defeat of the CONCACAF final hexagonal, when they prevailed 1-0 three days ago at the same venue to gain their first points.
Speaking ahead of the match, goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams said the players were under no illusions about the task ahead of them, but the Panama victory had given them a lot of self-belief.
“We knew Panama would be difficult because they are one of the better teams in CONCACAF,” he said. “We stuck to the game plan.
“Fortunately for us, the new coach came in and really stamped himself and his impressions on how he wanted us to play ,and we did our best to produce that type of performance.
“In the recent past, we had opportunities to get the better of Mexico. Now, we have a lot of confidence gained after the result against Panama. We will be going out to try and get the three points because we want to win every game no matter the opposition.”
The Soca Warriors will enter the match as huge underdogs though. Even without star players Andres Guardado and Jesus “Tecatito” Corona, the Mexicans showed against Costa Rica that they have multiple threats in attack, including El Tricolor’s joint all-time top-scorer, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.
Midfielder Khaleem Hyland said it will be important for T&T keep focused and play the lift their game to match the level of their opponents.
“We have to stay disciplined like we did in the two previous games against Mexico,” he said. “They know what we are capable of and we also know our weak areas which we are continuing to work on.
“We will try our best not to give Mexico any room to play because we know they can be dangerous when that happens.”
Mexico leads the hexagonal with seven points from three matches with followed by Costa Rica on six points, Panama on four, and the United States, T&T and Honduras on three.
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