Mexico		Trinidad & Tobago

Concacaf Gold Cup

Date	Venue	Location	Attendance
2000-02-13	Qualcomm Stadium	San Diego, CA, United States	22131

Mexico shut down 'Soca Warriors'

TRINIDAD and Tobago put themselves in a must win situation against Guatemala today when turning a 1-0 half-time deficit and a chance of salvaging a draw into a 4-0 whipping from Mexico at the Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego on Sunday. The result was not unexpected, especially after a 4-2 defeat for T&T in the 1998 Gold Cup. Under cloudy skies and 21,000 Mexican fans and two hundred T&T on lookers, T&T lost their second player in two days and saw their most famous striker miss a few easy opportunities and a second penalty attempt. But to anyone who didn't see the action, should know that the scoreline does not really indicate the performance of T&T. Captain Anthony Rougier and his "Soca Warriors" more than held their own in the first half as a blustery wind swirled around the ground. T&T enjoyed better possession for the opening 15 minutes and actually caused huge roars followed by a Mexican wave from the Mexicans as a wake up call for their team entering 16 minutes. The Mexicans began to settle into their game and showed the confidence that comes with three Gold Cup titles and a number 10 ranking by FIFA. But that didn't jostle the local squad. T&T's first real attempt on goal came in the 22nd minute when Angus Eve found himself on the end of a play just inside the area before having a low effort was blocked out by goalkeeper Oscar Perez. The Mexicans hit back soon after when Juan Francis's attempt had Clayton Ince saving low to his right. Yorke was main target of supplying passes from his teammates and also challenges from opposing defenders. Local fans who questioned the players' commitment to the team during a game saw him hustling the Mexicans at any given time and his teammates were not prepared to let their opponents take control. T&T's best move of the half came in the 24th minute when after a clearance at the back by Andrews, midfielder Russell Latapy picked out Yorke going forward and maintaining his composure, the Manchester United forward slipped to striking partner Mickey Trotman on the left but his left footer blocked on near post by Perez. Up to that stage the T&T defence was intact with Andrews, Shurland David and Rougier all keeping the Mexicans at bay. But then tragedy struck in the 36th minute when Ince failed to get around to his right post to push out Rafael Alvarez's attempt which bounced over the line following a break on the left side by Emilio Lopez. Double attempts by Eve that were blocked preceded the goal. The Mexican crowd erupted and T&T's promising start dropped a gear in the following ten minutes as their opponents went after a second item. On 40 minutes after a dangerous move was broken down inside the box, Andrews lost his concentration and touched back for Ince allowing Hernandez to intercept, luckily he failed to capitalise. A minute later the Crewe Alexandra 'keeper had to rush off his line to force Francsico's attempt wide. Nearing the half time interval, T&T took their backs off the wall. Yorke should have done better from inside the area, instead being forced off target. Still that was a good sign going into the second 45 minutes. Just as the case was when the "Soca Warriors" made their first entrance onto the battle field, they received loud jeers from the Mexicans prior to the second half kick-off. Five minutes into the second half, "Latas" picked out Yorke just on the edge of the box but the striker went down without a call by EL Salvadorian referee Rafael Rodriguez. A minute later the same duo combined, this time the £12.6 million man saw his header past a beaten Perez cleared by Sergio Trevino before it could trickle over. Similar to the first goal following a T&T attack, the Mexicans got their second goal when Luis "El Matador" Hernandez, free as a bird flew down the right flank before shooting past a helpless Ince. Trotman hustled almost every available play but was replaced by Evans Wise in the 61st minute and when Mauge was taken to hospital for a broken left foot, T&T fell apart. The defence was in disarray at this stage as the Mexicans went after a third goal and got it in the 75th minute when defender David turned Juan Francisco's right side corner into his own goal. The Latapy/Yorke combination almost brought T&T their first goal in the 76th and 80th minutes. First the "Little Magician" pushed one through for the Tobagonian who rushed a right footer which went over off the top of the crossbar and then saw his diving header pushed out by diving Perez. Even the Mexicans went up in cheers for the latter play. T&T conceded a fourth item when after failing to clear at the back Francisco's powerful drive came off Derek King on its way in. In the closing stages Yorke stepped up for a penalty and after Perez moved to his left before making a desperate attempt to stop the ball from entering the centre of the goal was happy to realise that a retake was ordered because the linesman ruled that a T&T player ran into the area after the kick. Yorke went for power the second time and the crossbar robbed T&T a consolation strike.

LINEUP
21.	Clayton Ince
4.	Marvin Andrews
6.	Shurland David
13.	Ansil Elcock
	82' Stokely Mason
8.	Angus Eve
10.	Russell Latapy
5.	Ronald Mauge
	70' Derek King
12.	David Nakhid
17.	Anthony Rougier (capt.)
19.	Dwight Yorke
14.	Mickey Trotman
	Evans Wise
SUBSTITUTES
2.	Derek King
15.	Stokely Mason
7.	Evans Wise
22.	Ross Russell
9.	Arnold Dwarika
11.	Jerren Nixon
COACH
	Bertille St. Clair
SUBSTITUTIONS
0'	Evans Wise for Mickey Trotman
70'	Derek King for Ronald Mauge
82'	Stokely Mason for Ansil Elcock