 Southampton striker Stern John is banking to continue his run of goals in World Cup qualifying action for Trinidad and Tobago when the hosts clash with Bermuda in their opening match of the 2010 Qualifying campaign towards South Africa from 5:30pm at the Marvin Lee Stadium on Sunday.
John, back in the team after recovering from a hamstring problem which forced him to miss the 1-1 draw with Jamaica last weekend, is optimistic of the “Soca Warriors” seizing an early advantage in the first leg against the visitors.
John took part in every session this week leading up the match and says he’s feeling pumped and ready to go.
“I think it’s always an occasion you can look forward to when you are coming back into the team especially when it’s for a game to start the qualifying campaign. The England game was definitely a huge one but it was a disappointing result for us. We’ve managed to put that past us and take the positives from as well as take away the areas which we saw needed to be worked on. The squad is a relatively mixed one with some of the more seasoned internationals and then there’s some youth in there as well which is evidence that the coach is trying to build a team.
“Sunday’s game though is the start of the drive for us towards South Africa and we must kick in to a higher level and set the pace from early. I think if we can get a decent home result then it will leave us somewhat comfortable going into the second game in Bermuda and also making sure of our spot to the semi-final round,” John told TTFF Media on Saturday.
The former Birmingham City striker has already set his sights though on possible opponents USA, Guatemala and Cuba for the semi-final round which commences in August.
“We have to be mindful of the fact that the next round is no walk over in terms of the teams we are playing. That means that while we have to take care of business on Sunday, we also have to use all of this as preparations for those games later in the campaign. Every good performance counts at this stage,” John added.
 T&T coach Francisco Maturana is obviously hoping for the best possible start.
Stern John and Dennis Lawrence
“In World Cup qualification everything you do is important… everything that happens in a match plays a part (in the quest for advancing in the qualifiers). So I am saying that we need to be focused and ready to go from the start of the game until the end. Whatever the scoreline says after the final whistle is what matters in qualification and our team must work towards achieving what is best for us – victory. I know the players will have in their minds how they must play and we leave the rest up to the period of the match,” Maturana told TTFF Media on the eve.
There has been one change to the team with defender Keyeno Thomas coming in for Michael Edwards.
Bermuda remained confident of an upset on the eve of the encounter. Their Former West Ham star Clyde Best said Sunday's opponents would be much better than anything Bermuda's players had faced in the USL or in the last few friendlies.
"You can't really go by the games against Barbados. That was not a good team. The longer we stay in this competition the harder it's going to be.
"Trinidad will have all their guys from England - some of them are playing in the Premier League every week. Even guys like John Barry and Khano - you can't compare the level they are playing at to the experience some of Trinidad's players are getting. It's a different league."
But he insisted 'anything's possible on a football pitch' and harked back to the days when Bermuda used to beat Trinidad and the U.S. on a regular basis.
"There was a time when they couldn't beat us. They are much stronger than they used to be, but they are not out of reach. They'd still only be a reserve team in England."
He added that the atmosphere in the Caribbean would not be as imposing as places like Mexico or Central America.
And he said Bermuda's tactics should be to keep it tight and not concede an early goal. (June 14, 2008)
T&T Squad:
Clayton Ince, Jan Michael Williams, Kern Cupid Kareem Smith, Dennis Lawrence, Ancil Farrier, Keyeno Thomas, Makan Hislop, Stephan David, Osei Telesford, Hayden Tinto, Carlos Edwards, Keon Daniel, Aurtis Whitley Khaleem Hyland, Stern John, Jason Scotland and Darryl Roberts
Bermuda Squad
Timmy Figureido, Jason Williams, Kofi Dill, Omar Shakir, Kevin Richards, Marquel Waldron, Kris Frick, Antonio Lowe, Damon Ming, Reggie Lambe, Meshach Wade, Khano ,Domico Coddington, Jemeiko Jennings, Keishen Bean, Kwame Steede, John Nusum, Ralph Bean Jr.
The match officials for Sunday’s encounter are as follows:
Referee: Cordero Quesada (Costa Rica), Assistant Referee 1: Carballo Ramirez (Costa Rica), Assistant Referee 2: Barrantes Azofeifa (Costa Rica), Fourth Official: Alvarado Cruz (Costa Rica), Referee Assessor: Jose Carlos Cardoza Ortiz (El Salvador) and the match commissioner is Jamaica’s Anthony James.
Tickets and Day of the Game:
Ticket booth operation:
The ticket booth (this is the ticket booth located behind the school boy stand and not the main gate area) shall be open from 9AM until approximately half time of the featured match.
The ticket booth at Harvard Sports Club shall be in operation from 9AM until 2PM.
* For both venues, ticket sellers shall arrive at 8:30AM to commence operations
Main Gate ticket booth:
This area has two gates and patrons shall purchase their tickets at the ticket booth (via the five ticket booths at this location), walk to the main gate, give the ticket agent their tickets and enter the venue via the two gates at the main gate ticket booth area.
Again, this main gate ticket booth area would ONLY be used to allow patrons on the compound.
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