We need to be ready for the task—skipper David
Soca Warriors captain Aubrey David says his team will need to be concentrated and ready for the task when they face Honduras in their opening 2024/2025 CONCACAF Nations League A Group B match at the Estadio Nacional Chelato Ucles, Tegucigalpa, which is situated 975 meters above sea level on Friday from 10 pm.
The 33-year-old Guyana-born David, who has featured 82 times at senior level for the Soca Warriors with one goal to his credit, was speaking ahead of T&T’s second practice session yesterday in Tegucigalpa following their arrival in the city on Tuesday evening.
David, who joined Guatemalan club CSD Municipal in the offseason from CS Cartagines, first admitted it was good to be back with his international teams ahead of their opening two group matches.
David said, “It feels good to be back with the boys, as it’s always a pleasure to represent the national team. Most of the guys are here with us, and I believe we are only missing one player, so it’s just for us to settle down as soon as possible because we know the game is on the 6th (Friday).
“So, it’s just for us to practice and get everything in the couple of days to get the game plan down and hope we can get off on the right foot on the 6th.
The Soca Warriors have tasted defeat in the last four outings against Honduras, inclusive of a 4-0 loss in their last CONCACAF Nations League meeting on November 17, 2019, which followed a 2-0 home loss on October 10, 2018 and two FIFA World Cup qualifiers, 3-1 away on November 15, 2016 and 2-1 at home on September 1, 2017.
The Soca Warriors’ last win of three came at the CONCACAF Gold Cup on July 15, 2013, via a 2-0 margin thanks to goals from Kenwyne Jones and Kevin Molino at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas, with the other wins coming via a 1-0 result in Honduras, their lone win against the host on their home soil on October 7, 2001, and 3-1 at the CONCACAF Gold Cup on February 1, 1998 in the USA.
Admitting the size of the task ahead to be a huge one and everyone needing to be on the same page, David said, “Everybody came on the main mission and the same goal, and everybody knows what we are in for and everybody is up for the task, and it’s just to focus and to get accustom to each in these couple of days that we have to go out on the 6th (Friday) and give everything that we have against Honduras.”
“We know it’s going to be a difficult game, but we just need to stick together and be united, and we could get the job done.”
Having featured for a few clubs in Central America during his professional career, including Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica, David said that experience could be of help.
He said, ‘Yeah, it can help me a lot because I’m experienced playing in these countries, but we know they (Honduras) are at home and will be coming with everything, and we know that the crowd is going to be on their side, so I think we just need to stay concentrated and focus because as long as we continue to do our game plan and keep them out, it’s going to be more pressure for them, so I just think we need to be concentrated and ready for the task.”
Friday’s match for the Soca Warriors will be the first under interim coach Derek King, 44, and he will look to improve his team’s overall record against the Hondurans, which also includes 11 defeats and six draws.
Following Friday’s match, the Soca Warriors return home to host French Guiana at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago, on September 10 at 7 p.m.
T&T will also face Cuba in a pair of matches in Group B on October 10 away from home and then four days later at home to close our round-robin play in the CONCACAF Nations League.
Jamaica and Nicaragua are also in Group B but will not face T&T in their four round-robin matches, while Group A is made up of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Suriname, and Guyana.
The CNL League A will get going today, with Guyana hosting Suriname, Costa Rica at home to Guadeloupe, and Guatemala hosting Martinique, all in Group A, while Friday’s two other Group B matches feature Jamaica at home to Cuba and French Guiana entertaining Nicaragua.
After Group Stage play in September and October, the first and second-place finishers of each group will advance to the quarterfinals, where they will join the four top-ranked League A teams (Mexico, USA, Panama, and Canada).
The post We need to be ready for the task—skipper David first appeared on CNC3.