Trinidad and Tobago's football Warriors were arriving at Piarco International Airport long before 6 am yesterday on the way to San Jose for their important CONCACAF World Cup football qualifier against Costa Rica which takes place at 10 pm TT time tomorrow at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium.
But their flight, originally carded to leave Piarco International airport at 8 pm suffered a delay and only took off an hour later. But once aboard the American Airlines flight, the team was welcomed by the captain and received loud applause from fellow passengers appreciative of their dramatic come-from-behind victory over Guatemala on Saturday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
But following that hard-fought victory on Saturday, and another light session the morning after, most of the Warriors used the three and a half hour flight to Miami to catch up on some much needed sleep. Despite being out of the Costa Rica game due to suspension, left defender Avery John also travelled with the team, but his place is expected to be taken by North East Stars defender Glenton Wolfe. A regular reserve, Wolfe had been looked good when practising Beenhakker's drills on the eve of the Guatemala match.
Having touched down in Miami at 12.30 p.m. yesterday, the Warriors had a few hours to kill until their flight to Costa Rica which was due to leave Miami International Airport at 6.24 pm to arrive in Costa Rica at 7.11 pm ( 9.11 TT time).
Many of the squad, including Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker, took the time to see the sights in an overcast downtown Miami, but instead found the place almost deserted due to the Labour Day holiday in the United States.
Today, coach Leo Beenhakker has scheduled two training sessions. One full session will take place this morning with a further one-hour session carded for tonight at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium, which is located about 45 minutes away from the Melia Caliari Hotel where the team is staying.