Soca Warriors aim to make waves at Concacaf Gold Cup

PHOTO | CONCACAF

Trinidad and Tobago, which won its Concacaf Gold Cup Group a opener against Saint Kitts and Nevis June 24, takes on the U.S. July 2 at Bank of America Stadium.

Trinidad and Tobago aim to return to the top of the Concacaf heap.

The Soca Warriors, who play the U.S. Men’s National Team Sunday in a Gold Cup Group A match at Bank of America Stadium, lead the group with 3 points after a 3-0 win against Saint Kitts and Nevis June 24. It was Trinidad and Tobago’s first Gold Cup group stage win since 2015.

“Trinidad and Tobago have been off the map for quite a while,” defender Alvin Jones, who scored the first goal against Saint Kitts and Nevis, told concacaf.com. “One of the things the coach [Angus Eve] brought when he got the job was that he wanted us to be a force to conquer the Concacaf region and the CFU region. As you can see, we’ve been doing some great work and it’s showing off,” said Jones.

The Soca Warriors, ranked 11th in Concacaf, have a chance to expand their Group A lead with a win against the U.S., which is second behind Mexico. The Americans, who have a point after a 1-1 draw against Jamaica on June 24, won their second straight Concacaf Nations League title earlier this month with a 2-0 win against Canada on goals from Chris Richards and Folarin Balogun. They made U.S. Soccer history by becoming the first and second players to tally their first career national team goal in a final. 

Two of America’s biggest stars, Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah, are sitting out after playing in the Nations League tournament.  The USMNT is 13th in FIFA’s global rankings.

Trinidad and Tobago, however, is showing form that could restore bygone luster among Caribbean soccer powers and the best Soca Warriors of Gold Cups past, such as the 2000 semifinalists and the 2013 and 2015 quarterfinalists. Jones, who has shown good form with Club Sando in Trinidad and Tobago is confident the national team can make noise in the Gold Cup.

“I’ve been playing back home, and I have seven goals in 10 games,” he said. “I’m in a pretty good scoring form and I just try to lead that up into the competition.” said Jones.
The main thing, according to Jones, is representing his country in the Gold Cup and moving the Soca Warriors into relevance.

“Representing my country is everything,” he said. “I’m going to put my body on the line, I put my life on the line for my country, so every time I step on that field, I give my all, I make up my mind to walk off having left everything behind. It's an honor and pride in representing my country.”

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