Soca Warriors Give Angus Eve The Boot
T&T vacancy should interest Dwight Yorke, who was overlooked by Jamaica as head coach
Angus Eve, who was only 90 minutes away from steering Trinidad & Tobago to the prestigious Copa America 2024, has been axed as head coach.
The managerial Caribbean roundabout produced a day of shocks yesterday (31 July), with Eve sacked and former England manager Steve McClaren unveiled as the new Jamaica head coach. Both surprise decisions were made with the focus on reaching the lucrative 2026 FIFA World Cup finals.
Dwight Yorke, the legendary Manchester United and T&T star striker, applied for the role with Jamaica but failed to make the five-man shortlist. However, he could emerge as a potential candidate for the Soca Warriors after Eve’s sudden unceremonious exit.
Eve’s position reached near breaking point following the humiliating 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup defeats, badly beaten 4-1 by Jamaica and thrashed 6-0 by the United States.
He bounced back by guiding the Soca Warriors to the CONCACAF Nations League A quarter-finals and was praised for outwitting Jamaica’s then-head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson in back-to-back unofficial friendlies in March.
Eve continued his good work and came perilously close to earning a Copa America 2024 berth, only to fall at the final hurdle in the play-offs to eventual semi-finalists Canada. He had recently masterminded two friendly triumphs against Guyana.
It was the 2026 World Cup qualifiers that became a sticking point with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA). The Soca Warriors were held 2-2 at home by Grenada in June, and brushed aside the Bahamas 7-1. They lie second in their group behind Costa Rica, with the top two nations progressing to the next phase.
The TTFA released a press release that read: “Moving forward, the TTFA will commence the search for a new head coach who can lead our national team to greater heights. Our focus is firmly set on the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.”
Reaching the next World Cup finals is TTFA’s goal, with an excellent opportunity to qualify. Canada, Mexico and the United States have been handed automatic berths as co-hosts for football’s biggest competition, making it much easier for T&T to reach the World Cup finals for only the second time in their history.
Yorke was a member of the Soca Warriors squad that competed at the 2006 World Cup finals, He was made a Sports Ambassador for T&T for his contribution to the national team during the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
The former hotshot striker most recently enjoyed a brief encounter Down Under. Yorke spent a year playing in the A-League for Sydney FC, then returned to Australia’s top flight after being handed the reins as Macarthur FC head coach in 2022. He won silverware as a manager by lifting the Australia Cup, but made an abrupt exit from the club last year as he was disenchanted.
Yorke could be a perfect match for ambitious TTFA, as the 52-year-old appears to be a prime candidate for the vacant head coach role and is extremely well respected within T&T.
The TTFA should be quick to make an appointment as the Soca Warriors face CONCACAF Nations League matches against Honduras and French Guiana in early September, then will tackle Cuba twice in the same competition a month later.
All eyes will be on the World Cup qualifiers next June, T&T are set to host St. Kitts & Nevis followed by a trip to Costa Rica, with the new coach journey expected to steer the Soca Warriors en route to the World Cup finals.
Whether the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) will kick themselves for overlooking Yorke for their head coach role remains to be seen. Should the Soca Warriors make it to the 2026 World Cup finals and the Reggae Boyz don’t then there will be questions asked, but now is the new start for both Caribbean nations as they are firmly focused on the future.
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