“A special talent!” Yorke praises Dante but urges Warriors to be more ruthless

Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team head coach Dwight Yorke suggested that the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) might have spent last night with their head in hands, after CF Montreal winger Dante Sealy made his senior international debut with the Soca Warriors—rather than the Stars and Stripes.

Sealy, who was born in Brooklyn to former Trinidad and Tobago international footballer Scott Sealy, represented the USA at every national age group.

However, at just 22, the talented winger pledged his senior future to the two-island republic and marked his debut with a double, as Trinidad and Tobago thumped Saint Kitts and Nevis 6-2 in a crucial 2026 World Cup qualifier at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

The margin of victory virtually assures the Soca Warriors of safe passage to the third and final Concacaf qualifying round—barring a lopsided defeat to Costa Rica on Tuesday, married with a huge win for Grenada away to Saint Kitts and Nevis on the same day.

Yorke said he was very pleased with Sealy and even happier to have secured his commitment to the team’s 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.

“I felt he has done extremely [well, and] I think there is a lot more to come from him, once he is bedded in a little bit more and buys into more of our ideas and philosophy,” said Yorke, at last night’s post-game press conference. “[…] The signs are very encouraging. I think the fans of Trinidad and Tobago who do not know who Dante Sealy is will [now] have an insight of what he can bring.

“He certainly improved our team, and I look forward to working with him and trying to improve him going forward. He is a special talent, and we embrace having him in our setup.

“I am sure the Americans will probably look and think how we were allowed to get him. But we are delighted at the same time.”

Sealy described his debut as a “great feeling” as he played in front of his family at Port of Spain. The fact that the Soca Warriors enjoyed their biggest turnout in 10 years—just over 20,000 patrons—only added to the buzz.

“I haven’t seen the fans come out like this for a football match [in a long time],” said Yorke. “Football has been on the downturn for some years now, and it’s good to see football on the top of the tree again.

“Credit to the people of Trinidad and Tobago. We need that support. We need that energy.”

The final result looked straightforward, but that was not always the case. Twice, the Warriors took the lead through Levi Garcia and then Sealy. Each time, the Sugar Boyz found an answer—and the teams were deadlocked at 2-2 at halftime.

“We were not at the races in the first half—we allowed them to get back in the game relatively easily,” said Yorke, who lamented that the Warriors continue to show themselves to be a reactive team. “When we went 1-0 up, I thought we should have kicked on… Certainly, we need to be a little bit more ruthless.”

In the 27th minute, Trinidad and Tobago were awarded a hotly contested penalty kick after American referee Natalie Simon ruled that Saint Kitts and Nevis custodian and captain Julani Archibald upended Sealy in the area.

However, Archibald thwarted the resulting spotkick from Garcia. And, within seconds, the Sugar Boyz scored at the other end through flanker Gvaune Amory.

“I thought the defining moment in the first half was the penalty that we had,” said Yorke. “Had we converted that then, 2-0, it might have been a different dimension.

“The moment we didn’t convert that penalty, they got a second wind and really came at us.”

Yorke made two halftime changes, as Andre Raymond replaced Darnell Hospedales at left back while Ajani Fortune came in for Andre Rampersad in central midfield.

“Their right wing (Tiquanny Williams) was causing us some problems certainly in the first half,” said the Warriors coach. “So, from a tactical point of view at halftime, we felt that was a change [we had to make]. We felt Rampersad wasn’t giving the sort of information and playing in the particular way we wanted him to play.

“So we made those adjustments and then we looked a much more competent team in terms of moving the game forward and taking the game away from Saint Kitts.”

Captain Kevin Molino won and converted a penalty within seconds of the restart, and the Warriors kept their foot on the gas to see off their guests, with Fortune and fellow substitute Nathaniel James also getting among the scorers.

Yorke credited his team’s resilience while assuring fans that he will continue to work on their mentality and tactical shape.

The next test of Trinidad and Tobago’s mettle will come from Costa Rica on Tuesday.

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