FOLLOWING his team's 2-2 draw against Grenada in the opening match of the Fifa 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo on June 5, Soca Warriors coach Angus Eve is reassuring the football public all is not lost on the team's quest to secure an automatic qualifying spot.
Against their spirited and physical Caribbean opponents, TT trailed by a 2-0 margin inside the first half hour after a brace from English-based midfielder Myles Hippolyte. The Soca Warriors looked sluggish for most of the contest and seemed to be knocked off their stride by the physical approach of the Grenadians. They fought back, though, and got goals from attackers Ryan Telfer and Reon Moore to salvage a point in their group B opener. The mood among the 8,000-plus spectators at the venue was one of disappointment as opposed to relief, as the hosts were given a real scare against their 174th-ranked opponents.
"We didn't lose which is the most important thing. I think when we qualified in 2006, it was the same thing. We had a game against Costa Rica right in the stadium here. The campaign started the same way and we ended up qualifying," Eve said, at the post-match conference.
TT's first game of the 2006 campaign was actually a 2-0 win over the Dominican Republic in the second round, with the Soca Warriors advancing to the next phase after a 6-0 aggregate win.
After navigating the second and third rounds, TT met Costa Rica in the third match of the Concacaf Hex campaign – playing to a goalless draw in Mucurapo.
The Soca Warriors coach was far from satisfied with his team's first outing.
"It's always good not to lose a game, but there are a lot of things to be disappointed in. I thought our discipline was poor.
"The game was very open. There were a lot of chances on both sides. Probably a draw was the best we could have got out of the game the way we played."
Going into the half facing a 2-1 deficit, the Soca Warriors were struck a blow when their ace striker Levi Garcia was substituted after experiencing discomfort in his back following a challenge from a Grenada defender. Both Garcia and utility player Noah Powder were withdrawn at the break, with midfielder Andre Rampersad and right back Alvin Jones entering the proceedings. With the subs, the Soca Warriors had a change in shape to 5-3-2, with Moore and Telfer partnering each other in attack, and Jones slotting in at centre-back.
[caption id="attachment_1088431" align="alignnone" width="683"] TT's Daniel Phillips (top) jumps for a header during the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifier against Grenada, on June 5, 2024, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain. - Daniel Prentice[/caption]
This isn't the first time the AEK Athens forward has been sidelined by injury in recent times, as he missed the majority of the Soca Warriors' 2023/24 Concacaf Nations League A campaign with a series of niggling injuries.
In the October and November 2023 Fifa windows, Jones was named to the Concacaf Nations League A Best XI, and he was a surprise exclusion
