Trinidad and Tobago captain Levi Garcia says he is confident in his team putting on a positive display against Haiti in their Concacaf Nations League A Group A clash at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, from 8.20 pm on Thursday night.
Speaking ahead of the match from the team’s hotel in Jamaica yesterday, Garcia, now of Greece’s Panathinaikos, said, “Firstly, it’s always a pleasure to be here, and it’s always good to join the boys. We know the importance of the camp at the moment. We have tough opponents ahead, but I have full confidence in what we are going to try to accomplish.
Commenting on the off-field issues that grabbed the highlights in the build-up to the team’s start to the campaign surrounding players’ salaries, which were unpaid and a potential team boycott, the 28-year-old Garcia said, “Of course, you know, there are things that always need to be dealt with, and this is in the past. We are still finishing up on a couple of things, but so far things have been going well, and this is something that needs to be done in the professional world.
“So these are things we have to be able to balance both on and off the field. So we came here to get the job done, and we’re going to try our best.”
Looking ahead to the matches, Garcia, who last played for T&T in the FIFA Series against Venezuela and Gabon in March in Uzbekistan, said, “I think the boys are really confident. “Now, I’ve seen our confident boys and a lot of new faces, but not that many at the same time. I believe that they are ready for the job ahead, and we’re going to go give our all.”
Having to face recent FIFA World Cup participants Haiti, Curacao, and the Dominican Republic, Garcia said his team will have to meet confidence with confidence.
“We know they are confident in. We just have to show what we have been showing, and whenever we get our opportunities, try our best to take them. We respect all our opponents, but we have to remind them that we are Trinidad and Tobago and we are also giants in the Caribbean. So, I believe with confidence, we’re going to get the job done.
Garcia also welcomed new faces in the team, Luke Phillip, Andrew De Gannes, Jahiem Joseph, and goalkeeper Wickham, saying, “
I think the importance of that is key because I’m no longer at a young age anymore, and what I’ve seen all these years is something that I’ve thought about a lot, and new guys come in and try to meet the environment as comfortably as possible, knowing the importance of representing the Red, White, and Black. So once these guys settle in, you’ll like for them to have the best international career possible.
With four matches to play in the window, Garcia admitted, “Yeah, it is a bit tricky because knowing the amount of games you have at club level coming into the international team would be difficult, but you know we do whatever it takes to get our bodies recovered, and yeah, we have to do what we have to do.”
He added, “Tonight (Thursday) will be a collective one because we know, as I said before, Haiti is coming off a World Cup campaign, and they are confident, but I have full confidence in my team. Of course we need to do our individual stuff to go and get a victory or get whatever results need to be done. I would like to have a victory, and I have full confidence in the boys, and we’re going to go for it.”
The T&T captain also spoke about Sunday’s match at home to the Dominican Republic, said, “It will be my first time playing at home since the World Cup qualifiers, and of course I know that there was something (8:38) a few months back or a few weeks back that, of course, caused a little bit of havoc, but hopefully we could get a proper result and be able to perform for our fans.”
Following Thursday’s encounter, T&T will host the Dominican Republic on Sunday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, from 9 pm.
