‘Buggy’ Haynes sees ‘Soca Warriors’ draw

“It can be a one-all or a goalless draw, but my gut feeling is that we will give an extremely good account of ourselves, come today,” Haynes said confidently.

The match kicks off at noon and will be followed by a another Group B game match between England and Paraguay in Frankfurt, and a Group C match between Argentina and Ivory Coast in in Hamburg.

According to the ex-Malvern striker, Haynes, the draw result depends on whether coach Leo Beenhakker selects the best team for the match, and it could mean minus key defender Marvin Andrews or his central defence partner Dennis “Tallest” Lawrence.

“Buggy” is of the opinion that both Andrews and Lawrence tend to be caught ball watching, and therefore it can be wise to use a younger player who will be able to recover when they are passed.” said.

The coach will be spared this decision, however, as Andrews has been ruled out of today’s action with an injured knee.

But former national team manager Richard Braithwaite, expressed the view that Andrews’ presence in the “Soca Warriors” back four is needed if we are to pull off a win today.

“Since we are taking part in a tournament of this magnitude for the first time, we will need players who have played in front of large crowds and Andrews is one of the players in the team who has done that,” Braithwaite said.

But he said there will be an adequate replacement for Andrews if he is unable to play.

“This is why the period of preparation before the World Cup is important because you need to identify not only your starting eleven, but also the possible replacements in cases of injury” Braithwaite said.

Marlon Morris an ex-“Strike Squad” midfielder feels that Costa Rica have laid the foundation for a good showing by teams in the CONCACAF region, although beaten 4-2 by host nation Germany in the opening match yesterday.

He stressed that the Warriors, no doubt will give a good performance in today’s match, and remains optimistic of a good result at the end.

“The Warriors,” he said, “have been playing very good football. They have been moving foward with the ball and have been given a performance to follow by the Costa Ricans.”

The main concern for Morris however is the team’s ability to overcome the first15 minutes which he describes as a most testing period for all players.

“It is important for us not to do anything out of the way. It is a most nervous period in the game and it matters not who you are as a player, you will get some kind of jitter.”

Well known coach Muhammad Isa says coach Leo Beenhakker needs to play a tactical game if a victory is to be realised.