Look Loy: T&T football’s swirling down the drain pipe—no matter what apologists and enablers say

“[…] Never mind the ‘media specialists’, apologists and enablers (paid and unpaid by TTFA) who seek to convince us otherwise. They could spin it however they wish. The world, including our opponents, sees we are in terminal decline.

“The Soca Warriors have become a ‘small island’ team…”

In the following guest column, football analyst, FC Santa Rosa founder and ex-TTFA technical department chair Keith Look Loy looks at the issues that blighted the Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team’s 2026-27 Concacaf Nations League, and the local game on a whole:

Too much football. World Cup 2026 still lingers in memory and we are now faced with a glut of international friendlies, Afcon qualifying, and Concacaf and Uefa Nations League matches involving teams seeking redemption from World Cup failure or beginning new World Cup cycles—with new players under new coaches.

And it is all so boring, so narcotic.

No longer are there years between international tournaments to pique fan interest, a condition exacerbated by the constant surfeit of live televised football. Today, one tournament flows into the other in a seamless blur of mediocre, homogenized, Mammon-serving competition.

Marcelo Bielsa, the iconic Argentine coach, once said: “I am certain that football is in a process of decline. More and more people are watching this sport, but it is becoming less and less attractive.

“We do not favour what made it the best sport in the world. The beautiful game is properly losing its soul and becoming a right chore to watch. Everything now is so mechanical. Every single team wants to play this boring, patient possession stuff.”

The never-ending football has its effect on player fitness too. In the recent Uefa matches several big-name players—Kylian Mbappe (France), Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala (Germany), Eric Garcia (Spain), Francisco Conceição (Portugal) and Alexander Isak (Sweden)—all suffered injuries.

In our three Nations League matches, several of our players were injured including: Tyrese Spicer, Levi Garcia, Josiah Trimmingham and Rio Cardines.

But we love football. So, we watch and we follow.

Brazil continued their struggles under Carlo Ancelotti “Down Under”, beating Australia but still looking like they will not win another world title for at least a millennium.

In Europe, France, under new coach Zinedine Zidane, laboured to a colourless 1:0 win away to Türkiye (for which he was slated by the French media), while Germany, under Jurgen Klopp, were booed off the pitch after a dull loss at home to lowly Greece.

Meanwhile, the heroes of Cabo Verde were rudely brought back to earth with a 3:1 beating from Mali in Afcon qualifying.

Closer to home, five Caribbean teams, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Suriname, defeated Central American opponents in the Concacaf Nations League.

Ah, the power of the Caribbean diaspora. It has shifted the balance of power between the two Concacaf sub-regions.

If anyone believed Caribbean teams taking two of the three World Cup 2026 spots available to Concacaf was a fluke, now they know. The Caribbean is no longer the poor relation “begging a lodging” in their richer family’s house.

And the most captivating football of the Fifa window—globally, the whole thing—was Curaçao’s swashbuckling come-from-behind 4:3 victory against Costa Rica in San Jose, after being 3:0 down at the half.

That was simply astonishing. Even Tico fans saluted the Blue Wave for the quality of their second-half attacking play.

And then, sigh, there were the Soca Warriors.

I know nothing about cricket, but I watched Trinbago Knight Riders in the recent CPL tournament. They heaped indignity upon the nation on Independence night by losing to Guyana Amazon Warriors.

(Yes, yes, I know these are foreign-owned franchises filled with foreign players and are not national teams, but TKR carries our name. Well, our nickname.)

We survived that, but then on Republic night, to pour salt on our psychological wound, the Soca Warriors snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Haiti—after leading 2:1 after 90 minutes, but incredibly losing 2:3 to goals in 90+1 and 90+8, with three starting players being injured into the bargain.

Like we blight.

National coach Derek King evidently learned nothing from his England counterpart Thomas Tuchel’s huge tactical error in his team’s 2:1 World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina.

The Three Lions were leading 1:0 with five minutes left when two goals in the space of seven minutes saw a remarkable comeback from Argentina. The collapse came after Tuchel made a number of defensive substitutions as he attempted to hold on to the lead.

Well, the lesson was lost on King in the Nations League match against Haiti last week, as he fell victim to the same booby trap against an opponent that was dominating the possession statistic but losing in everything else: on the scoreboard, on chances created, on shots taken and on corners won.

King’s ill-considered removal of key players handed the match to Haiti in its dying embers. Even the Haiti players could not believe their undeserved luck.

Then came the vinegar of the 2:1 historic, first-time loss to Dominican Republic in an empty Hasely Crawford stadium. No need to recount the bitter details.

The boys tried, but the desperation in our camp was evident—from the recalling of players who could not help the team to the decision to send Cardines into midfield, a position he has never played for us.

I said in my article, The road through Hispaniola (04/09/2026), that “we cannot sleep on Dominican Republic. Coming immediately after Haiti, we underestimate them at our peril. Do so and our campaign could be over by the end of the month.

“[…] We need at least four points from the first two matches—at least a draw on the road in Jamaica against Haiti and a must-win at home to Dominican Republic—or the doubleheader against Curaçao becomes an academic exercise.”

And after seeing Curaçao humble the Ticos on the road and dismantle Nicaragua in their own house, we can expect nothing but more grief from the Blue Wave.

I always say patriotism is no substitute for analysis. I remember working with the Dominican Republic federation as Fifa Development Officer back in the early 2000s (and Panama’s too—so-called “baseball countries”).

Football people in these countries looked up to Trinidad and Tobago as an unattainable standard at that time. To them our players were celestial beings treading earth.

Like Panama, “the DR” were considered easy points. Today, (still ranked 144 by Fifa to our 102) with patient, decades-long work, they have surpassed us.

After the Haiti loss team captain Levi Garcia told us the players must “have more faith and trust the process a bit more”. But the process is broken. Irretrievably.

Our national team have not won a match in the last 11 under the combined reign of Dwight Yorke (3) and King (8)—12 if King’s exhibition loss to US second division club Louisville City FC is included.

There are calls for King’s head and some say Yorke should return. To what end?

In World Cup qualifying, our run was over after the two opening matches, as it is over now—and Yorke had two more matches than King to fix the mess.

TTFA just declared its loyalty to Infantino, never mind Concacaf’s bold but hollow anti-Infantino stance. So even more Fifa shekels are in the offing.

Greedy Gianni is readying to grant each Fifa member USD 10 million, as he fights for survival. That is TTD 70 million, folks! Think of the financial carnage inside TTFA with that much treasure on the chopping block.

In the real world, however, we are falling further and further behind. Each passing tournament shows us this. We need a new process headed by new people.

King’s fate hangs in the balance and the tournament is a matter of survival for us now. We are staring relegation to Nations League B and elimination from the 2027 Gold Cup in the face.

Never mind the “media specialists”, apologists and enablers (paid and unpaid by TTFA) who seek to convince us otherwise. They could spin it however they wish. The world, including our opponents, sees we are in terminal decline.

The Soca Warriors have become a “small island” team. TTFA’s membership should by now be in open rebellion against the catastrophic state of affairs in the organization. They should be looking to clean the Augean stables.

Instead, they remain comatose. So, the question is not: Who should be coach? (And please note that, at the time of writing, three Caribbean teams head League A, all led by a foreign coach).

The real question is: When will the owner/voters of football take the bull by the horns and install a leadership that has an idea of how to turn things around?

Until that day of salvation arrives, further and further down the drain pipe we go.

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