St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Association is arranging to bring some 500 fans to witness their country's 2006 semi-final round World Cup qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on November 17.
"We have this very important game against Trinidad and Tobago and we are very confident that ‘Vincy Heat' will win this game in order to move onto to the final round. We know it will not be easy to come and beat Trinidad in their backyard but they were able to come and beat us at home and we are not taking that so easily. We intend to come here and return the favour and not only win but win handsomely and knock Trinidad out of the tournament," said Thomas who was in Trinidad last weekend for the CONCACAF/FA media relations seminar at the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence, Macoya.
Thomas was even bold as to say T&T would be the ones hoping to upset "Vincy Heat" in the match which kicks off at 7pm.
"I want to express my gratitude to the St Vincent Federation for allowing us this chance to give our team the best chance possible by having the fans over. You all have not seen us play since the last time we met but I can tell you that the team is a much improved one. We did very well against the Mexicans and with the new coach in charge now, it's going to be a whole different ball game. At the same time, if Trinidad happens to upset us then we will rally behind them for the remainder of the qualifiers because they are representing our region," Thomas added.
T&T coach Bertille St Clair led this country to a 2-0 win at Arnos Vale in the earlier encounter with Errol McFarlane jr scoring a double. For this encounter, he has stressed that T&T would not be letting their guards down and will be aiming to dominate their opponents. TTFF President Oliver Camps added that there was no reason to fear the Vincentians.
"The team has our total support and I don't think we need to be under any unnecessary pressure at this stage. We are well aware that the team is now beginning to take shape and I am optimistic of our chances of reaching our peak in time for the final round. We will not underestimate any team and that includes St Vincent. They can therefore expect us to be a forceful team against them come next Wednesday. We have no reason to fear them but good competition always augers well for the game," Camps said.
Coventry City striker Stern John remains on standby with his ankle injury while Wake Forest University striker Scott Sealy is on a waiting list as he could replace American-based striker Cornell Glen who will undergo a fitness test on his hamstring. The rest of the overseas contingent includes Brent Rahim (Falkirk), Clayton Ince (Crewe Alexandra), Kenwyne Jones (Southampton), Ian Cox (Gillingham), Brent Sancho (Dundee), Marvin Andrews (Glasgow Rangers), Dennis Lawrence (Wrexham) and Anthony Rougier (Nanjing Yo FC). The selection of local-based pros will be finalized in the next couple of days.