Nightmare for Bahrain

Our victory against Mexico was a fantastic performance by our team. They played a very tactical and attacking game for 90 plus minutes. We kept ball possession for long periods, which enabled us to control the midfield and also the pace of the game.

Praises must be given to Mr Leo Beenhakker. When the Dutch coach took over from Mr Bertille St Clair we had only one point, which came from a home draw against Costa Rica. The Warriors have matured in the way we play our game. We no longer depend on individual players; this has made us more confident and mentally stronger.

Our next two games will be the biggest for our team and also our nation since November 19, 1989. In our home game we must be victorious. The crowd needs to make the Hasely Crawford Stadium a living nightmare for the Bahrain team. Our fans need to hype up our players while intimidating the Asian players. The fans need to make our home game an advantage with its support; they will be the 12th man on the field.

I recently wrote an article, which was published in the Newsday newspaper in the later part of August calling for the implementation of a 4:5:1 system. We employed this system in our two last games against Panama and Mexico and we were victorious. With both Latapy and Yorke tightly marked in midfield there is a lot of room for Otis, Chris, Carlos and the right/left back making the over lapping runs. These five players in midfield will surely make life difficult for opposing players.

The game against Mexico saw Aurtis "Otis Seaton" Whitley playing what he is capable of doing, mesmerising defenders.

Carlos Edwards had an excellent game but needs to make more precise aerial crosses and he needs to take more shots on goal, if he doesn’t change those last two areas that I mentioned he would be a very predictable right-winger.

Our players have to be mentally prepared for our next two games. We must not become complacent as we did in November 19, 1989 against the USA and at the 1967 Pan Am games where we beat Argentina, Colombia and tied with Mexico, we got over confident and we were beaten soundly by Concacaf minnows Bermuda 3:1. I want so sincerely thank Mr Austin Jack Warner for all that he has done for football in Trinidad and Tobago and World football. It’s a pity that Trinis don’t know how to appreciate our own. It’s in our constitution to support/vote for a political party of your choice.

So business people forget which political party Mr Warner is associated with and support our national team. All the best in play offs. Go Warriors.

RAVI HARRYPERSAD

San Juan