PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Former Trinidadian football star Shaka Hislop says unless the Soca Warriors can at least grab a share of the points in their next two matches, their FIFA World Cup dreams could be over.
T&T are currently bottom of the CONCACAF standings on two points, without a win in three outings and in danger of missing out on a return trip to the 2010 spectacle in South Africa.
Hislop, a member of the side that became the second English-speaking Caribbean side to reach the World cup finals in 2006, said it was imperative that new coach Russell Latapy stabilize the side and at least get some points from their next two qualifiers.
“Russell’s initial challenges are simple, to steady a rocky ship and to get at least two points from the games against Costa Rica at home and Mexico away,” the former Reading, Newcastle, West Ham and Portsmouth goalkeeper said.
“Not to give Russell a ‘get out of jail free’ card, but if we don’t do that South Africa 2010 dreams are all but over, and Russell shouldn’t shoulder the blame for that. Russell’s mandate has to be a more long term one. He has to be given till 2014 at least.”
Trinidad & Tobago created history when they reached the World Cup finals in Germany three years ago, following a dramatic playoff win over Bahrain.
However, their hopes of a repeat were dealt a severe blow when they suffered draws in their opening matches to El Salvador and Honduras, before being thrashed by the United States earlier this month.
Latapy last week replaced Colombian Francisco Maturana who stepped down as coach following T&T’s poor run of form.
Their form has left their World Cup dreams in tatters, and Hislop admitted the road to South Africa was now an extremely difficult one especially with several factors working against them.
“Our chances of qualifying for 2010 are worse than they were four years ago. I say that for a number of reasons,” said the 40-year old, now an analyst with international sports network ESPN.
“I don’t think newly appointed interim coach Russell Latapy will play again, he probably will, and probably should concentrate his efforts on coaching the team now.
“Dwight Yorke is four years older than he was last time around, and we haven’t successfully replaced those two players in our starting line-up.
“Honduras is stronger than Guatemala was four years ago, on the other side of the coin though Mexico is far weaker. And of course the fourth placed finishers play against the fifth placed finishers in South America, a much tougher proposition than Bahrain could ever be.”
