Lawrence looking ahead to US showdown

TT men’s national football team coach Dennis Lawrence is looking ahead to the showdown against the United States on June 22, in the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup, at the FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.

This game will be the first meeting between both teams since the October 10, 2017 fixture at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva. TT won that match 2-1 and ended the US’ hopes of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

On Wednesday, the Gold Cup draw was made in Los Angeles, US, with TT drawn in Group D alongside the US, Panama (June 18) and Guyana (June 26).

The 2019 tournament will take place in the US, Costa Rica and Jamaica, from June 15 to July 7.

According to an article on the TT Football Association (TTFA) website yesterday, Lawrence said, “I knew it was going to happen because it is what was meant to be. When you go into any major tournament I think if you want to win the tournament you have to probably beat some of the better teams and USA are one of the best, so we are looking forward to it.”

Lawrence added, “They’ll be excited about it and it’s going to be a full house when we play the US because they will have the fans behind them and hopefully a few Trinidadian fans will turn out.” This will be TT’s first time at the Gold Cup since reaching the quarter-finals of the 2015 edition. It will also be Lawrence’s first experience with the TT team at a major tournament, since he was appointed as the men’s national coach in January 2017.

“It’s all exciting because we’ve been waiting to find out who was going to be our opposition in the Gold Cup,” said Lawrence. “We know it wasn’t going to be easy because they are all very good teams that have qualified for the Gold Cup. It’s an interesting one.”

The ex-TT central defender pointed out, “(The national squad) are going to look forward to an exciting tournament. It’s the biggest in the CONCACAF. It’s like our World Cup and the players should be excited about it and excited about turning up in a tournament, representing Trinidad and Tobago and doing well.”