In the heights of the 2007 Carnival festivities, a disciplined bunch of footballers from Couva left all the thrills and excitement behind, seeking to create history.
The 2007 TT Pro League runners-up Vibe CT 105 W Connection departed the Piarco International Airport just after 6 a.m. on Carnival Monday morning full of confidence in their chances to move past the quarter final round of CONCACAF Champions Cup for the first time in their club’s history.
W Connection are scheduled to face Mexican Champions Chivas in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter final round on February 28.
The ‘Savonetta Boys’ brought joy to home fans last Tuesday when they rose above all expectations to defeat the Mexican champions Chivas 2-1 at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium in the first leg of the home and away quarter final tie.
Looking ahead to the return leg, Club President David John Williams called it the biggest game in his club’s seven-year history.
Speaking to ‘ttproleague.com’, Mr. John Williams said, “This is no doubt our biggest game thus far, I see it as the most important game in the club’s history, we have a real chance of moving on to the semifinals of the tournament and becoming one of the top four teams in CONCACAF in 2007.”
The W Connection owner continued, “Not only is this game important for us, but I believe it is very important for the TT Pro League and Trinidad and Tobago’s football, this is an opportunity to show the world that we have a quality professional league in Trinidad and Tobago and we are capable of producing players to compete at the highest international standard.”
He confirmed the team trained up until Sunday night, before leaving for Mexico on Monday morning and said everyone in the camp was in high spirits.
“The guys are all upbeat, the sprit in the camp is high, and they have an opportunity to get into Mexico nine days ahead of the match, so they can properly acclimatize to conditions.”
Williams reflected on his team’s battle with Toluca, another top Mexican club back in 2004 in the CONCACAF Champions Cup where W Connection were edged out at the quarter final stage, having lost 3-2 in Mexico, and was only able to pull off a 3-3 draw at home.
However, David John Williams says a lot is different this time around, “First to begin with this time we played our home game first, and we are traveling to Mexico with an advantage. Another important factor is that this time the game in Mexico is not at high altitude as it was back then,” and while he admits his squad in 2004 was a much more experienced bunch, he strongly believes his crop of young players has what it takes to get the required results.
He told ‘ttproleague.com’, in no uncertain terms, “Most definitely, I am very confident that the boys can pull off the result we need, coming off the performance in the first leg where we played 71 minutes with 10 men and only committed three fouls, it shows the level at which the team is currently performing, and I am expecting nothing less than the required result to propel us through to the semi-finals.”