There comes a point in sport when logic and emotions have to step aside. A point where the only thing that matters is whether you are willing to give absolutely everything, even when the consequences are unknown.
That’s exactly where T&T finds itself heading into the next two FIFA World Cup qualifiers away to Bermuda on October 10 and Curaçao on October 14. Both are must-wins. No room for hesitation, no space for fear.
And that’s why the message to our players and staff is simple: detach from everything that doesn’t serve us, commit fully to the task and be brave enough to risk it all.
Detachment doesn’t mean a lack of passion or love for the game. It means removing the weight of doubt, the fear of mistakes, and the hesitation that comes when emotions cloud judgement. On the pitch, hesitation kills. A second’s pause to overthink a pass, a half-step late on a tackle, a moment of self-doubt on a finish. That’s how campaigns end. We have experienced this in four qualifying campaigns since 2005/2006.
Detachment, instead, is freedom. It’s trusting the plan, trusting each other, and executing with no apology.
We’ve seen teams before who embodied this same principle. Leicester City in 2015–16 are still spoken of in awe. Everyone had written them off, but Claudio Ranieri built a culture where each player’s role was crystal clear, and the team played without the burden of “what if”. They didn’t weigh themselves down with expectations or reputations; they simplified, detached, and delivered the most unlikely Premier League title in history.
The All Blacks of rugby are another model. Their famous “no dickheads” policy and rituals like “sweeping the sheds” weren’t gimmicks. They were cultural codes. They detached from ego and individual baggage, so when the time came to risk everything, they did it with unity and courage. The man next to you mattered more than you. For T&T, we must ask: are we willing to sweep our own sheds? Are we willing to adopt uncompromising standards that strip away distraction and ego?
Or take Iceland at Euro 2016. A country with fewer people than a couple of Caribbean islands put together outworked, out-believed, and outlasted giants of Europe. Their simplicity and togetherness were their greatest strengths. They didn’t carry the burden of being “small”; they detached from that narrative and wrote a new one. It shows what happens when a group decides to focus only on what can be controlled. We did it in 2005.
And then there’s Argentina in 2022. Even after the opening loss to Saudi Arabia, they doubled down on belief, rallied around Messi, and transformed pressure into fuel. That campaign was about bravery, taking punches, and still moving forward.
For us, the parallel is clear. Trinidad and Tobago is not a nation with endless resources or depth of talent to spare, as much as some may want to argue that. But what we do have is an opportunity to define who we are when the stakes are highest. And that identity must be built on detachment from fear and commitment to bravery.
So what does this look like in practice for our staff and players over the next five days?
For the staff, it means clarity. We must all deliver the same message until it becomes part of the group’s blood.
For the players, it means owning roles. Commit to brave decisions. The forward pass, the early shot, the hard tackle and never let hesitation creep in. And it also means sacrifice. The brave thing isn’t always the glamorous thing. Sometimes bravery is running yourself into the ground so a teammate can shine. Sometimes it’s sitting deeper instead of chasing glory.
For the wider support structure, bravery means protecting the group. Minimise distractions, travel clean, filter out the noise and let the players breathe. Shield them from everything that doesn’t help them win.
It’s easy to talk about bravery as a concept, but harder to live it when the scoreboard and the clock start pressing down. But that’s why detachment is the key. The team must accept in advance that not every risk will pay off. If we gamble and it fails, we learn and move again. If we gamble and it works, we celebrate the courage that made it possible. The only unforgivable sin is to play safe and wonder afterward what might have been.
We ask ourselves now: are we willing to detach, to commit, to be brave? These two games will not be won by fear, hesitation, or half-measures. They will be won by courage, by clarity and by collective sacrifice.
If T&T can step onto the pitch in Bermuda and Curaçao with that mindset, the result won’t just be points on the table. It will be an identity, forged in fire, that carries us through the rest of this campaign.
And when it’s all done, win, lose, or draw, maybe we can remember again the essence of what we do. The beauty that lives behind all the intensity and expectation. Take a quiet drive down to Couva, that growing sporting hub where the Ato Boldon Stadium rises with its familiar sense of pride, side by side with the national cricket centre. Feel the rhythm of evening walkers circling the perimeters, hear the laughter and take in the fresh air in a quiet atmosphere around the beach football pitch, and see the aspiring swimmers in the world-class Aquatic Centre. It’s a place where sport still breathes in its purest form. Effort, dreams, community.
That space, with proper care and maintenance, can be a real winner too. Because that’s where it all begins. The love of the game, the desire to give everything and the quiet reminder that what we chase under bright lights started in moments just like those. And maybe, as you leave that hub, you cool down the reflection with a cold coconut or a hot doubles—two simple Trini comforts that taste even better when your heart feels full of purpose again. If you know, you know!
