Trinidad Moves Ahead Without Striker Yorke
Scenes from the biennial ball of confusion also known as the Gold Cup:
* Late Tuesday night at the Coliseum. Trinidad and Tobago has just defeated Guatemala, 4-2, on the strength of a goal and two assists from Dwight Yorke, all but clinching a berth in the tournament quarterfinals.
Yorke, among the top strikers in the world, plays his club soccer for English power Manchester United, which just suffered an upset defeat against Newcastle without Yorke and is growing increasingly nervous about today’s showdown with second-place Leeds. Manchester United officials have been making noise all week: Regardless of how Trinidad fares in the Gold Cup, the club wants Yorke back for the Leeds match.
“We in the Caribbean see this tournament as our European Championships,” Yorke proclaims.
A reporter asks the obvious question: “Is Yorke staying?”
“Yes, he is staying,” Trinidad Coach Bertille St. Clair assertively declares.
Thursday, Yorke is on a flight back to England. He is expected to be in the Manchester United lineup today.
* Late Thursday night at the Coliseum. Costa Rica has just tied South Korea, which previously tied Canada, which tied Costa Rica before that, leaving all three teams in Group D with 0-0-2 records.
Costa Rica is declared winner of the group by virtue of the four goals it scored in its two ties. It is almost 11:30 p.m. when Gold Cup secretary general Chuck Blazer flips a coin in front of team officials from Canada and South Korea.
South Korea calls heads. The coin comes up tails.
Just like that, the West Coast wing of Gold Cup 2000 arrives at the quarterfinals without the best player in the tournament and a team that didn’t lose a game.
Today at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium, a Yorke-less Trinidad will play Costa Rica at noon, followed by Mexico-Canada at 2:30 p.m. Winners will advance to a Thursday semifinal match at the Coliseum.
