Go guys go

Cold logic should dictate that since we have already qualified for the World Cup, it is immaterial whether we win or lose today’s practice match against lowly ranked Peru, who are not even in the World Cup.

However, in practice fans are expecting a good showing from the Warriors. A victory will serve to continue to build up our still fledgling national confidence since beating Bahrain before we face the big fish of Group B - England, Sweden and Paraguay.

Today’s match is also important for practical reasons. The Peruvians will expose the players to the tough South American style of football they can expect from Paraguay. The Soca Warriors, in beating Iceland, have already seen the Scandinavian style they can expect from Sweden, and in their individual clubs abroad they would be familiar with the English football style.

In addition, today’s match will give our team a chance to gel, remembering that they have not played together since the Iceland game in February.

The match will give the Warriors a chance to practise some safe set pieces, and also provide them the opportunity to try out some creative innovations, although there is a feeling that coach Leo Beenhakker will lean towards playing it safe. Indeed, while a victory will be a great morale-booster and equally a loss could be a real setback to our collective psyche, it would be foolish to take any wild chances which might put the players at risk of injury.

While the match has been described as an international “friendly”, it may in fact turn out to be not so friendly. South Americans have a tough reputation on the football field. Moreso, while Peru has had a glorious footballing history in qualifying for three out of the four World Cups held from 1970 to 1982, they have recently nose-dived to place ninth out of ten countries in South America, and may now feel like playing us as if they have nothing to lose.

Another outcome of the match is that it will project Trinidad and Tobago on the world stage even before the World Cup kicks off. Many foreign media personnel are present in Trinidad and Tobago for the match, including from the United Kingdom and Sweden.

Today’s match will also give us some indication of the prospects for the Warriors in Germany. Coming under the microscope will be the strategising of coach Beenhakker, and the command of captain Dwight Yorke.

Beenhakker is expected to play his strongest side today. He will be very mindful of the terrible psychological blow that a loss to Peru could inflict on the Soca Warriors and our citizens.

So all in all, people will be watching the match for an indication of the performance that our players are capable of taking to the World Cup.

Nationals of Trinidad and Tobago will today expect a nice little local demonstration of what a world-class football team can do, as a preview to Germany.

So with a capacity home-crowd expected to flood the National Stadium in a sea of red, notwithstanding the high price of the tickets, Trinidad and Tobago has everything to play for.

Good luck, Soca Warriors! Go guys go!