TT aim to finish off D/Republic

TRINIDAD AND Tobago senior football team will be looking to advance in their “Journey to Germany 2006” campaign when they face the Dominican Republic in the second leg of their CONCACAF World Cup second round qualifier at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella today from 4 pm. Both teams (the Dominican Republic contingent arrived yesterday morning) held their final practice sessions at the Marabella venue yesterday evening. Trinidad and Tobago recorded a hard-fought 2-0 win on a tough surface at the Olympic Stadium, Santo Domingo last Sunday with goals from Marvin Andrews, in the 62nd minute, and Stern John in the 90th.

And the hosts are expected to make three changes to their lineup, with Brent Rahim, Jason Scotland and Cornell Glen replacing Hayden Fitzwilliam, Kerwyn “Hardest” Jemmott and the injured Carlos Edwards. A win, a draw, or even a defeat by a one-goal margin will see Trinidad and Tobago advance to the semi-final round, which will feature three groups of four teams that will run from August 18 until November 17. In their group, Trinidad and Tobago could face the St Kitts/ Barbados winner (St Kitts lead 2-0 after the first leg), the Nicaragua/St Vincent winner (both teams drew 2-2 in their first clash) and the Mexico/ Dominica winner (the first leg was played yesterday), with the top two teams moving on to the Final Round group of six teams.

In the Final Round, the teams will play home-and-away fixtures from February 9 to October 12, 2005 with the top three booking their spots to the 2006 World Cup in Germany while the fourth-placed team will compete in a home-and-away playoff with the fifth-placed finisher from the Asian Football Confederation. Trinidad and Tobago coach Bertille St Clair has instructed his players to hold nothing back as the hosts will be seeking to finish off their opponents in style as they keep their eyes on the rest of the campaign which continues with the semi-final stage in August. As he put his players through their final paces at yesterday evening’s training session at Marabella, St Clair made it clear to them that they should show no mercy against the visitors who had completed their session under coach William Benett moments before TT took the field. “Clearly we want to finish them off convincingly. In these matches there is no room for complacency or any chance of letting the opponents off the hook,” St Clair said. “While we went there and came away with the 2-0 win, it is important that we get an even bigger and more impressive win at home. This is our territory and we must never allow the outsiders to come in and have any comfort on the pitch and it starts from here because later down in the competition, the competition will intensify,” he added.

Assistant coach Ron La Forest spent the majority of the session working with strikers Stern John, Jason Scotland, Cornell Glen and Scott Sealey, with the emphasis on clinical finishing from various positions in and around the penalty box. Second string ‘keeper Duarance Williams was in no smiling mood as he either had balls coming at him at lightning pace or placed with precision on goal. It is likely that Scotland, coming off a promising first season with Dundee United, will start alongside John up front. “I like to score goals and I want to score once the opportunity is there and I am confident that the other three strikers all feel the same way. So hopefully we could end up with maybe more than two in the bag in this game,” John said. While the forwards will be aiming to strike, Scottish-based defender Marvin Andrews and company will also be hoping to ensure that goalkeeper Clayton Ince maintains a clean sheet in this tie which will see Suriname’s Antonius Waldo carrying the whistle.