Coach Stephen Hart has described his sessions with his full complement of national senior team players as very lively with good energy.
Hart was happy that all 23 players were available for the sessions which saw the players having to use the Larry Gomes Stadium for yesterday’s practise since the Stadium was unavailable because of the rain.
The only players who were not part of the full training were the Mexican-based duo Yohance Marshall and Jomal Williams and Levi Garcia, all of whom enjoyed light involvement, having come off the plane only a few hours earlier.
“Well the most important thing is that we have everyone here. That’s always a good sign for a coaching staff,” Hart said yesterday.
Hart revealed that the players will spend the next few hours going over a few things with respect to the game and “how we intend to go about our approach to it.”
The Costa Rican team is scheduled to arrive tonight at 7:45pm on a chartered plane. They do not have a training session scheduled for the match venue.
Their coach Oscar Ramírez, during his press conference to announce his squad for the match, said it was important for his players to counter T&T’s speed in transition plays.
“They are a good team with a lot of speed and athleticism,” Ramirez said. “They have a good style and we will need to focus and be strong to close them down in the transition of their game.”
T&T goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams maintained yesterday that there was no pressure on the current squad that will disrupt the mental state of Stephen Hart’s unit as they looked to tomorrow’s qualifier.
Williams, the starting custodian with local club Central FC, has not played a World Cup qualifying game for T&T since last November, missing the two victories against St Vincent and the Grenadines, Guatemala and the United States through a shoulder injury.
But he was back in the starting eleven for the recent Caribbean Cup qualifiers against Dominican Republic and Martinique.
“I think I am in a good mental position right now. The season is midway into the Pro league and we’ve played four massive games in the Concacaf Champions League so I am just hoping to make my way back and contribute to the team on Friday,’ Williams said.
“Preparations for games like these are an ongoing something. It’s not just a week or two week preparation. I’ve always tried to keep myself in the right mental and physical position to be able to play in the Hex and I am quite happy to recover from the injury first and foremost.
“The amount of pressure we put on ourselves as a team, the pressure from outside cannot match up. We want to qualify for the World Cup and we know the potential we have as a group and the pressure we have on ourselves is immense but in saying that, it is not the type of pressure that will destabilise us or to make us nervous. It is the kind of pressure to motivate us and to help us to go forward and complete the objective,” he added.
Newcomer in the squad, W Connection defender Jelani Peters, described his first three days with the team as challenging but enjoyable.
“It’s been a great experience. Most of the guys are playing outside so that’s been good for me to get the opportunity to train with them. The first session was a bit challenging but I settled in by the second day. For me this is the best set of players that have been on the national team for some time and that makes the experience even greater for me, coming in as a local-based. I am hoping to build on this and make a worthy contribution to the team in general,” Peters said.