Yorke: We want clean sheet against 'Los Ticos'

SOCA Warriors coach Dwight Yorke said his team will need an improved defensive showing if they are to get a result in the Fifa 2026 World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica in San Jose on June 10. Kickoff is from 9 pm.

The Soca Warriors (seven points), who are currently second to Costa Rica (nine points) in group B play, will advance to the final round of Concacaf qualifying with a draw. Meanwhile, with the third-placed Grenada (four points) playing St Kitts and Nevis from 3 pm on the same day, Yorke's charges will progress if the former team fails to register a win. However, a Grenadian win, coupled with a heavy Soca Warriors loss, could prove catastrophic for Trinidad and Tobago's hopes of advancing.

In their previous match, TT traded goals in the first half with St Kitts and Nevis before charging to a 6-2 win on the back of a brace from US-born debutant Dante Sealy. With the Soca Warriors conceding in seven of eight games since Yorke took charge last November, he has thrown the challenge to his defenders to keep the Central Americans at bay.

"I think we're still developing in those areas. We're a team which seems to be a reactive team and not a proactive team...we always seem to concede and then have to go after teams to try and win a game," Yorke said, at a press conference on June 9.

"Even though we're getting better in those areas, these are the kind of games we have to try and have a clean sheet in terms of trying to win a game. It's an area we're trying to improve in."

With opponents such as Ghana, Jamaica and Saudi Arabia in the mix, TT have scored 16 and conceded 15 in the matches under Yorke up to this point.

In the last meeting between the teams in a World Cup qualifier in 2017, TT fell to a 2-1 loss in San Jose, while they also succumbed to a 2-0 loss to "Los Ticos" earlier in that campaign. Five players will be returning from the TT squad which last played for the senior team at San Jose, including skipper Kevin Molino who scored in the team's last outing. Former skipper Aubrey David, who has had spells with at least three Costa Rican clubs, will not be among those returning to San Jose. However, Yorke reiterated that the door isn't closed on the defender or other players who didn't make this 26-man squad.

Despite the inexperience of most of his players on Costa Rican territory, Yorke is confident they have the tools to get the job done.

"The history shows between ourselves and Costa Rica that it's always been a competitive game. We expect a very difficult game here. Although, in 2017 was the last time we met and the score was 2-1 to Costa Rica. The games are relatively tight and I expect it to be exactly the same tomorrow night," he said.

Yorke said he will draw on the valuable lessons he learned during his playing days, having represented the "Strike Squad" team away to Costa Rica as a teenager in 1989.

"I didn't understand the concept of professional football then. Now, I'm older, experienced and I'm the head coach of TT. I understand what it takes to come to Costa Rica and try to get a result.

"I expect my team to compete at all levels and we will. I can assure you that. I expect both teams to go at each other. Hopefully, on this occasion, we can get the better of Costa Rica at home." While the Soca Warriors will do well to stop in-form Spartak Moscow forward Manfred Ugalde and a home team coming off an 8-0 win over the Bahamas, the visiting attackers will also need to be on top of their game to get by veteran goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who has returned to the national setup after retiring last May.

"I think they have a strict guideline on what to expect from the likes of Costa Rica. They've got to understand the mentality, physicality and the crowd and what's expected in Costa Rica...they'll have an idea of what Costa Rica is like to try and get a result. It's one we embrace and one we put the challenge out there to the players."

TT were expected to train from 7 pm on June 9 at Estadio Piedades de Santa Ana as training at the match venue was prohibited because of persistent rainfall over multiple days.