Cardiff City striker Kenwyne Jones is focused on the Soca Warriors ending a 13-year title drought when the 18th Caribbean Football Union Cup Finals comes off in Montego Bay, Jamaica from Novermber 10-17.
In the eight-team finals, the Soca Warriors, record eight-time champions with the last being in 2001, will do battle in Pool A along defending champion Cuba, Curacao and French Guiana while Pool A will feature three former winners in Haiti (2007), Jamaica (1991, 1998, 2005, 2008, 2010), Martinique (1993) and current top ranked CFU team, Antigua & Barbuda.
In Jamaica the top teams of Groups A and B will contest the final while the runners-up of each group will compete in the third and fourth place playoff.
All four teams competing on the final day will also qualify for next year's Concacaf Gold Cup while there is also the added incentive that the CFU champions will compete at the 2016 Copa America, against the best of South America.
The best third-place team from CFU (according to group stage results) will also have a chance to qualify for the Concacaf Gold Cup via a qualification playoff, against Honduras, the 2014 Copa Centroamericana fifth-placed team.
And speaking after setting up striker partner Kevin Molino to net the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Antigua & Barbuda in their CFU Cup semifinal round Group Seven decider at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva on Sunday night, Jones when quizzed about the possibility of facing South American opposition responded, "We have a lot to worry about before the Copa America."
"Yes the Copa America is an added prize but it's about time T&T win the Caribbean Cup again."
The last time T&T captured the title was on May 25, 2001 on home via 3-0 win over Haiti at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo with goals from Dale Saunders, Brent Rahim and Arnold Dwarika.
At Couva on Sunday, 24-year-old Orlando City striker netted his fourth goal in three matches to make certain the Stephen Hart-coached Soca Warriors ended as group winners with maximum nine points, five more than its opponent who took second ahead of Dominican Republic due to a better goal-difference.
Scorer of a hat-trick against Dominican Republic in Wednesday's 6-1 win before missing Friday's 2-0 win against St Lucia with a slight knock, Molino held his composure in the area in the 45th minute to drive the ball past Antigua and Barbuda goalkeeper Brentton Muhammad after latching onto a flick-on by fellow forward, Kenwyne Jones.
Commenting after the match, Molino, who broke the US Pro Soccer league scoring record this season with his US Major League Soccer-bound club and was named the USL Pro "Most Valuable Player" said he was simply happy to contribute but "scoring goals don't mean much if we don't win."
Ten minutes into the match, Molino also had a chance to put T&T ahead but he fired into the side netting with teammates Jones and Hector unmarked in the penalty-area while England-based Andre Boucaud and Belgium-based Khaleem Hyland had long range efforts that failed to hit the mark.
At the other end of the field, T&T goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams was mostly a spectator as the defensive quartet of Sheldon Bateau, Carlyle Mitchell, Joevin Jones and Daneil Cyrus together with defensive midfield duo, Hyland and Boucaud protected the T&T goal by smothering any counter attack from their opponents.
But on the resumption, the visitors came alive with Calaum Martin curling a left-footed attempt wide, in the 53rd, and two minutes later, he forced Williams into a block after being put through by Peter Byers.
Antigua & Barbuda was now enjoying a brief moment of dominance and in the 58th minute Martin tested Williams with a free-kick while Byers fired wide of the mark after a one-two with substitute Randolph Burton.
This forced Hart off his seat on the touchline as he signalled for his players to up the team, and his demand was almost met by another goal for T&T, when Vietnam-based midfielder Hughton Hector cut inside right-back Quinto Griffith in the 64th minute, only to scoop his right footer overbar.
The nippy Hector had a crack on target in the 77th minute but Muhammad was equal to the strike with a one-handed save putting it over the bar while substitutes Cordell Cato and Ataulla Guerra also tried their best to stamp their name on the game, but to no avail.
Despite the score-line captain Jones said, "It was an almost perfect game tonight (Sunday)."
results & standings
CFU Cup semifinal round results:
Group Seven: Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva
T&T 1 (Kevin Molino 45th) vs Antigua & Barbuda 0
Dominican Republic 3 (Johnathan Fana Frias, Kerbi Rafael Rodriguez Pichardo, Inoel Navarro Gonzalez) vs St Lucia 2 (Zaeehaeus Polius (2))
Teams P W D L F A Pts
Haiti 3 1 2 0 6 4 5
French Guiana 3 1 1 1 5 4 4
St Kitts/Nevis 3 1 1 1 4 4 4
Barbados 3 1 0 2 5 8 3
Group Nine:
Venue: Sylvo Cato Stadium, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
French Guiana 2 vs Barbados 0
Haiti 0 vs St Kitts/Nevis 0
Teams P W D L F A Pts
Martinique 3 2 1 0 7 5 7
Curacao 3 1 1 1 2 2 4
Guadeloupe 3 1 0 2 4 4 3
SVG 3 1 0 2 5 7 3?