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CCNTV6
  • 5 months ago
The weather hasn't been great so far in Costa Rica as the Warriors held their training session a short while ago.

Persistent rain has prevented practice so far, at the national stadium.

Weather aside, coach Yorke has shown trust in some young players in the squad who shared their experience.
Transcript
00:00Not even the weather was going to rain on the Soca Warriors preparations for tomorrow's World Cup
00:20qualifier against CONCACAF Giants Costa Rica. Confidence will be high following Friday's 6-2
00:25victory over St. Kitts on home soil. But the performances of young players like Dante Sealy
00:31and Nathaniel James, who combined for three of the six goals, make for an exciting future.
00:36Despite having 13 matches under his belt for the national team, Nathaniel James admitted
00:41to butterflies coming off the bench.
00:43Well, I was definitely still nervous, you know. I was like, yeah, this is a lot of people here.
00:48Just want to, you know, be good, play good, try not to make no simple error, simple mistakes, you know.
00:54I just use what I have, my experience from before, you know, try to remain calm, not focus too much
01:00on the outside noise of what's happening. Yeah, and I just, as I got in the field, everything left
01:06and it was just football at that point.
01:07The Mount Pleasant striker has been a super sub, scoring all five of his goals off the bench,
01:12having been a substitute in nine of his 13 matches. But the former QRC standout has a mature approach
01:19to his role off the bench.
01:20I try not to focus too much on worrying about starting because I think the coach wants to
01:27use the strongest team that he feels can win the game, like from the start. So as long
01:33as coach, you know, keeps me, like, humble, motivated, you know, I think I should be fine
01:41because I have my father, you know, the people supporting me to always speak to me, you know,
01:47to make sure that I'm good mentally and that I need to understand, like, football is just
01:51not about starting alone. You have to understand, like, your team and it's a team sport. And
01:56so, yeah, I never try to think too ahead of myself and I never feel as though I should
02:02always be starting.
02:03And while he's still establishing himself, the 20-year-old striker is rooting for other young
02:08players to get their chance.
02:09Yeah, it's definitely a good group we have right now, really strong and competitive team.
02:14You know, I think Dante is, he's really, he's shown what he can do, shown what he can bring
02:21to the team. He's a really good player. I like him a lot. Yeah, we spoke a few times and
02:26yeah, I like his personality a lot. Me and Wayne, we've known each other for a while now. So
02:31yeah, he's finally breaking into the team, you know. So yeah, hopefully my other friends,
02:36um, Real and Kaim, can also get into the, to the, to the team and start playing as well
02:42because, yeah, and right now just, it's, it's really happy, high spirits. Everyone just wants
02:46to play.
02:47One of those players he mentioned, Wayne Frederick II, finally got his full TNT debut and he
02:52spoke on the emotions involved for him and his family.
02:55Yeah, I think it meant a lot. You know, they've seen all the hard work I've put in, you know,
03:00all the struggles that I've been through just to get to where I am now and, you know,
03:04just to see certain things come together in this way is, you know, it's special. And then
03:09especially in Trinidad at the national stadium for my first, uh, real cap is, is, is incredible
03:15for them to, to witness.
03:16Now he's got his first senior cap. The 2024 MLS second overall pick is looking forward to
03:23the experience against Costa Rica.
03:25Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It's an important game. It's a big game. I think it'll really
03:29challenge us. And then, you know, I think the result will show us, you know, how far we've
03:34come and, or how far we need to go. And I think it'll be an important lesson. And, you
03:40know, no matter what the result is, I think the things that we take from it will, will help
03:44guide us and lead us to, you know, the rest of the qualifiers. And I'm excited for it because,
03:50you know, I've never, you know, played in a, in a game that this magnitude, you know, it's
03:54it's a, it's a big team in CONCACAF. So I think it'll be, you know, a great experience
03:58and I'm very, I'm looking forward to it a lot.
04:00Terence Clark, TP6 Sport.
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