Yorke: Warriors ready for Ticos

Captain of the TT team, Dwight Yorke says he foresees a "very difficult" match but is not counting out the possibility of a positive result, particularly on the back of a inspiring come-from-behind 3-2 win over Guatemala in Port-of-Spain on Saturday.

A charter flight will be arriving in the Costa Rican capital of San Jose through the efforts of team sponsor TSTT as well as CLICO with President George Maxwell Richards, his wife Dr Jean Ramjohn Richards and other fans.

FIFA vice-president Jack Warner will also be on hand to witness the crucial match.

The Warriors awoke for a 9 am breakfast yesterday and had their first session in San Jose two hours later followed by a second session at 7 pm.

With the match being played on an artificial surface, TT coach Leo Beenhakker made a request for the two sessions and was allowed for the duration for one hour each.

Following a five-hour stay in Miami after leaving Piarco at 9 am on Monday, TT’s footballers arrived in San Jose around 7.15 pm Costa Rica time and were immediately escorted through immigration.

They then faced a brace of Costa Rican media personnel with several TV cameras surrounding and even entering to the team bus.

Upon arrival at the TryP Corobici Hotel, the Warriors were greeted by more cameramen, including a couple who has been camping out at the hotel since early yesterday morning which started much earlier as the sun is fully up from 5.30.

"It’s nothing new in football," Beenhakker said. "But we are here for a match and we know it will be played on an artificial turf. There’s nothing to complain about but to just go and get on with our game," he said.

Defender Brent Sancho, because of his dreadlocks was mistaken by reporters for Russell Latapy and some of his team-mates couldn’t resist laughing when reporters tried to get through to him some shouting "Russell, Russell, how do you feel?"

"Obviously we’re here to try and get a result. A victory would be great but we know that Costa Rica are also on a high and they will be going all out to get the three points," Sancho said.

The morning session was watched by a host of Costa Rican media as the Warriors went through their paces, getting accustomed to the new surface. The conditions were cool with a strong wind coming across the venue which puts the fans virtually on the backs of the players on the pitch.

And having played here alongside Latapy when Costa Rica won 3-0 back in 2001, Yorke said his team is prepared for anything.

"The surface is not a problem at the moment. But we expect it to be a difficult match for us. We know that the Costa Rican fans will be trying to make it very hard for us on the night but it’s not something that should throw us off," said Yorke.

"I am hoping to be part of a very entertaining match because we know that our team is a good one offensively and so are the Costa Ricans," Yorke said yesterday.

"But in saying that, we need to be as tight as possible at the back and ensure that we don’t give anything away," he said.

Latapy has been very popular among the people here who have jumped at every opportunity to shake hands or take photos with him.

"We know it’s going to be tough out there because this is the time where all the teams will be trying to get results. But at the same time, there’s no reason for us to feel we can’t get something out of this match," Latapy said.

Costa Rican head coach Alexandre Guimaraes has been suspended after being ejected in the last match versus Panama. The home side will undoubtedly look to the services of Ronald Gomes, Paulo Wanchope, Winston Parks, Jafet Soto and Walter Centeno.

Beenhakker added: "It’s not anything big because he (Guimaraes) isn’t playing. We must be as ready as we can be and try to get the best result possible."

A victory will push TT to ten points, same as Costa Rica while the Warriors faithful will be hoping for Mexico to do their job on Panama and likewise USA on Guatemala.