Molino, Jones return for must-win Cuba matches
As expected T&T Soca Warriors interim coach Derek King named Kevin Molino and Joevin Jones, both former captains of the Soca Warriors in his 23-man squad for this country’s final two matches in Group B of the CONCACAF Nations League against Cuba.
Both Molino, 33, and Jones, 34 make their return to the team after last representing T&T at the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup in the USA under former coach Angus Eve.
King named his team yesterday with Toronto FC striker Tyrese Spicer, the number one pick in last year’s US Major League Soccer Draft, also being included along with AC Port-of-Spain’s John Paul Rochford and Police FC goalkeeper Adrian Foncette while AEK Athens striker Levi Garcia is unavailable after his club requested that he be excused from international duty at this time after only making his return to action as a 66th-minute substitute in their 1-0 loss to Panetolikos yesterday.
The team of locally-based players and technical staff will depart T&T today for Santiago, Cuba via Miami and the entire squad is expected to assemble in Santiago on Monday morning ahead of the team’s first training session later that day ahead of Thursday’s match at the Antonio Maceo Stadium from 4 pm in Santiago De Cuba.
The team will then return home to face the same opponent at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Tobago on October 14 in a 9 pm kick-off.
Molino had announced his international retirement on September 1, 2023, after 59 appearances and 29 goals for the Soca Warriors, citing differences with Eve.
He was then released by US Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew on February 4, 2024, and has been without a club since, while 33-year-old Jones, who has featured 87 times for the national senior team with 12 goals to his name, also had his last run out for T&T at the 2023 Gold Cup but has been involved in the T&T Premier Football League action for Miscellaneous Police FC in the CONCACAF Caribbean Cup.
Among the other players who were part of the team for last month’s two matches and not called up by King this time around were defenders Leland Archer (Charleston Battery/USA), and Andre Raymond (St Johnstone FC/Scotland); the midfielder trio of Duane Muckette (AC Port-of-Spain), Steffen Yeates (Pacific FC/Canada) and Daniel Phillips (Stevenage FC/England), and strikers Reon Moore (Pacific FC/Canada), and Kaile Auvray (Cavaliers FC/Jamaica).
The Soca Warriors will go into the match with Cuba with only one point after two matches in the six-team round-robin group after a 4-0 loss away to Honduras and a 0-0 home draw with French Guiana and going into their final two matches, T&T, who reached the semifinals last time out before falling to the USA on a home-and-away aggregate 5-3 need to win both matches to have a chance at a top two group finish.
French Guiana also has one in Group B but sits ahead of T&T on goal difference while Jamaica and Nicaragua share the lead with four points each, with Honduras next with three and Cuba fourth with two points.
After the group stage, the first and second-place teams of each group will advance to the quarterfinals, where they will join the four top-ranked League A teams (Mexico, USA, Panama, and Canada) from which the winners will advance to the 2025 Concacaf Nations League semifinals and qualify for the 2025 Gold Cup while the losers will advance to the 2025 Gold Cup preliminaries.
King and his team will also be mindful of getting out of the bottom two in their group table as at the end of the round-robin phase the fifth and sixth-placed teams will be relegated to League B.
In the previous meeting between the two teams in Cuba, T&T were 3-1 winners in a 2010 World Cup qualifier played in 2008 in Havana.
T&T would go on to win the return qualifier 3-0 in Port of Spain. T&T also won the 2015 Gold Cup meeting 2-0 while Cuba was 1-0 winners when both nations met in the 2012 Caribbean Cup final in Antigua.
T&T Squad
Goalkeepers: Christopher Biggette(Defence Force), Denzil Smith (AC Port-of-Spain), Adrian Foncette (Police FC).
Defenders: Aubrey David (CS Deportivo Municipal/Guatemala), Triston Hodge (Hartford Athletic/USA),, Shannon Gomez (San Antonion FC/USA), Alvin Jones (Police FC), Justin Garcia (Defence Force), Sheldon Bateau (SK Beveren/Belgium), Ross Russell Jr (Police FC).
Midfielders: John Pual Rochford (AC PoS), Andre Rampersad (HFX Wanderers/Canada), Dantaye Gilbert (Jong PSV/Holland), Noah Powder (Northern Colorado Hailstorm/USA), Joevin Jones (Police FC), Kevin Molino (unattached), Isaiah Lee (La Horquetta Rangers), Michel Poon Angeron (AC PoS)
Forwards: Ryan Telfer (HFX Wanderers/Canada), Nathaniel James (Mount Pleasant/Jamaica), Real Gill (Northern Colorado Hailstorm), Kevon Woodley (Police FC), Tyrese Spicer (Toronto FC/Canada)
Technical staff: Derek King (interim coach), Walt Noriega (assistant coach), Ross Russell (goalkeeper coach), Adarryl John (athletic trainer), Saron Joseph (strength and conditioning coach), Joseph Rooplal (massage therapist), Michael Williams (equipment manager), Dr Akash Dhanai (doctor), Shaun Fuentes (media officer), Richard Piper (manager)
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