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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