Moore, Warriors look to bounce back against French Guiana

Interim coach Derek King and the national senior men’s football team touched down in Tobago yesterday in preparation for Tuesday’s crucial Concacaf Nations League clash with French Guiana at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet.

The “Soca Warriors” last played against their counterparts in a Concacaf Gold Cup qualifier at the DRV PNK Stadium on July 6, 2021, and prevailed on penalty kicks 8-7, which followed a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation time.

Speedy midfielder/striker Reon Moore said that was when no football was played in T&T. Since then, there has been the T&T Premier Football League being played in two tiers, which means the majority of players are not only playing, but they are fit. Moore said this development should give he and his teammates the edge on their opponent when the teams face off.

The Soca Warriors will have no room for error against French Guiana, having lost their opening match at Honduras 4-0.

“The boys are good after the loss to Honduras. We’ve recovered well, we had a long travel and we are focused again to go on Tuesday. The opening 30 minutes of that game we were good, we were in the game playing, and then the goal came. When the goal came it was a bit tough to recover, and when that happened, the momentum swung in their direction,” Moore said.

With the loss, the Soca Warriors will be in a must-win situation, having to finish among the top two teams in a group of four to progress to the other phase of the competition. After this match, the T&T team will next play against Cuba in two matches in October. French Guiana has also found themselves in a similar situation to T&T having lost to Nicaragua 1-0 in their opening match of the Nations League also.

Moore told the media yesterday, mere moments after touching down, it is always good to win at home.

“We know the task at hand, the boys know the task at hand and we will be ready for it. We just have to be focused, stick to the game plan and go out there and execute,” Moore said.

The lanky attacker was less than happy with his performance against the Hondurans, saying he could have done a lot more in attack. According to Moore though, it was a bit difficult to get the ball into the right spaces on the field.

The losing result under caretaker coach King was neither a factor of concern nor worry, as Moore said both King and Angus Eve, who King replaced after the Board of the T&T Football Association sacked him, was really nothing as both coaches share the same principles of coaching.

The post Moore, Warriors look to bounce back against French Guiana first appeared on CNC3.