Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, and not Hasely Crawford Stadium will host the final match of the CONCACAF Hex between the U.S. and Trinidad & Tobago. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Soccer)
Sorry, there will be no 11th-hour World Cup qualifying heroics again by the United States at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago.
Instead, the Americans will have to pull them off at Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad in the regular CONCACAF Hexagonal encounter for both teams Oct. 10.
The Trinidad & Tobago Football Association has decided the clash on Oct. 10 will take place at the smaller Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva instead of the more familiar confines of Hasely Crawford Stadium in the capital, Port of Spain. Kickoff for the match is set for 8 p.m. ET (beIN Sports, UNIVERSO).
In 1989, the U.S. defeated the Soca Warriors, 1-0, at Hasely Crawford Stadium to clinch its first World Cup berth in 40 years.
Built for the 2001 Under-17 World Cup, the venue is named after the Trinidadian world champion sprinter and has a capacity of just 10,000. That is much smaller than Hasely Crawford, which can hold as many as 23,000 spectators.
Located about 45 minutes south of Port of Spain, the stadium recently has served as a second home for the Soca Warriors, with the team hosting CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifying matches there since 2014. Trinidad has dropped three of four games its played at Ato Boldon in 2017, most recently on Sept. 1 when the Caribbean side lost to Honduras, 2-1.
