With the Trinidad and Tobago men's football team set to play the US in a 2023/24 Concacaf Nations League A home-and-away quarter-final tie on November 16 and 20, coach Angus Eve is hoping striker Levi Garcia will be fully fit for both games.
The Greece-based Garcia returned to action for AEK Athens on Saturday when they played AE Kifisia in the Greece top flight. The 25-year-old Garcia missed six weeks with a quad injury and came off the bench versus Kifisia as the third-placed AEK were held to a 1-1 draw.
Speaking to the TT Football Association (TTFA) media on Tuesday during a national team session at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar, Eve said it would be a plus to have Garcia back in the Soca Warriors set-up.
"I always keep my fingers crossed when Levi starts back to play, especially coming close to an international window. We haven't had the services of Levi at all for this tournament and the guys who are here are doing tremendously well in his absence," Eve said.
"If Levi is fully fit and back, that will be a bonus for us because he brings a lot of belief into the team. When he comes here, he is that type of character."
T&T will be on the road for the first leg when they play the US at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas on November 16, before hosting the Americans four days later at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo. With AEK playing two more games before the Fifa international window, Eve says Garcia is eager to find his footing.
"Levi wants to play. He wants to come back but we won't risk him if he can't. He is hoping he gets serious minutes in the next game and then we'll get to make a final and formal decision."
The US thumped T&T 6-0 in a 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup group stage match in July. Eve acknowledged the magnitude of the task ahead, but he says his team has changed.
"It's a very difficult task ahead. (USA) will play more of their European-based players to play the match. Also, we're different. They will have to look at us differently also because we are a different unit. Both sets of teams are going to change up dramatically I think."
Eve's current training squad comprises a heavy local presence, along with foreign-based players such as Neveal Hackshaw, Noah Powder and Malcolm Shaw. Eve says it's important to get his players up to speed before the quarter-final tie.
"(Our players) are fit but they are not football fit, so we're trying to replicate those kinds of things in training. They are out of the season for the most part – the guys who play in the States and the guys who are based here."
Eve will name his final squad on Sunday.