Not a bad result says St Clair

TRINIDAD and Tobago’s footballers almost didn’t make to the venue for their final round match on Thursday against Barbados in the Digicel Caribbean Cup. There were some anxious moments when the bus taking the team to the National Stadium in Bridgetown broke down even before the Soca Warriors could leave the Grand Barbados Beach Resort. But in the end a winner by skipper Angus Eve ensured passage for TT to the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup. To finish off a testing week for coach Bertille St Clair’s team which had more downs than ups, the host nation came with all guns blazing as they scored their only two goals of the finals in front of a partisan crowd.

Jamaica were crowned 2005 champions with a 1-0 win over Cuba who also made it to the Gold Cup. The Reggae Boyz took away the US$100,000 first prize while TT received US$30,000 for finishing third. “It wasn’t a bad result for us but again we made some errors at the back and we paid the price for it,” St Clair said. “We won the match which is always important and the guys showed some fight which was one of the positives. We also switched the formation for this match with which the guys seemed comfortable. All in all even though we didn’t take home the top prize, we are still in there for the long haul,” he said.

The Soca Warriors will now revert to preparations for the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Guatemala on March 26 with a friendly international early next month against a team to be named shortly. “We have to continue the focus ahead of the next World Cup match and we also should have a match before that. “All this is barring whether I am still around,” St Clair added. “Because with the set of comments you are hearing and the criticism of the team back home maybe perhaps things might be different. But  my goal remains getting to the World Cup and once the powers that be see it fit not to interfere with that then I have no fear that we will surprise a lot of people,” St Clair said.

“It is so shocking that while we are trying to qualify for a World Cup, there are guys who are said to be knowledgeable about football and they continue to knock their own team when you expect them to help the team with their comments and try and get the nation behind the effort. We must remember that football is not just about talk but it’s about success so maybe if they have the track record to prove it then things would be different for all of us,” he said. Skipper Eve also praised his teammates for their effort on the closing night. “I think despite the fact that we had to work hard to get through meant that the guys showed character and could only build from this. “We have some work to do without a doubt but I think we can only move on from here,” Eve said.