Members of the Trinidad and Tobago national football team will be aiming to put themselves in a position of comfort when they face Honduras in what is expected to be hostile atmosphere in their CONCACAF World Cup qualifier at the Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula today.
The game is set to kick off at 6.05pm (4.05 Honduras time). A sold out crowd of 37,500 watched Honduras lose their opening match against Panama 1-0 on Friday while T&T also fell to Costa Rica 2-0, in their opener in front of home fans at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
T&T trained twice following their arrival here on Sunday afternoon after overnighting in Panama City with the second session being at the game venue yesterday from 5pm.
The conditions here, with the game kicking off in daylight, is not as hot or humid as in T&T with the sun usually setting by 5.30pm. Whether the sun goes down early or not, T&T coach Stephen Hart is insisting that his troops are ready for what is likely to be another brutal challenge.
“We know very well that we need to improve in the attacking third, how we combine our movement off the ball needs to be a lot more dynamic and we will have to close down Honduras effectively. Not just close them down but try to win the ball in crucial areas and try to get on top of them because that is what they are going to try to do to us in the opening minutes,” Hart said yesterday.
The T&T coach described his opponents as very dynamic, who do lots of hard running, hard tackling. “They just put you under pressure all the time and we have to try and counter that by playing quicker, playing deeper and doing the same to them. It’s just a matter of the mindset and the attitude towards doing what needs to be done.”
Former national stalwarts Russell Latapy and Stern John have echoed their support for the T&T team, saying they believe the team can pull off the win. Hart believes this level of inspiration is good for his players.
“I think it’s good because the names you are calling are people who have been through it. And Hutson Charles and Michael Maurice have been talking to them about the same type of thing but you have to believe in every game that you go to play that you play in such a way to get the result and if that means you have to suffer… then you have to suffer,” Hart said.
Both Hutson Charles, the lone goalscorer and Maurice played in the 1-1 draw between both teams in the World Cup qualifier here in Honduras during the 1990 World Cup campaign.
The game will be aired live in T&T on Flow Sports.
Things to know
• Kenwyne Jones scored a second half penalty to put T&T 1-0 ahead in the last meeting between the two teams. T&T won that encounter 2-0 at the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup
• Jan Michael Williams, Khaleem Hyland, Radanfah Abu Bakr, Joevin Jones, Daneil Cyrus, Carlyle Mitchell, Aubrey David and Andre Boucaud all played in that win for T&T.
• Carlos Pavon scored the opening goal on 20 minutes when both teams met in 2009 at the same venue for today’s game. Radanfah Abu Bakr and Kenwyne Jones were the only two players from today’s squad who played in that defeat.
• The Honduras national team used to play the majority of its matches at the Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino in Tegucigalpa.
