A good result.
That is how Trinidad and Tobago’s senior men’s football team head coach Angus Eve described his team’s 0-0 draw against Haiti in their final 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup warm-up match at District Park, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, yesterday.
Commenting on the draw, Eve said he got what he wanted from the match and will be focussing his attention on set pieces as they gear up for their opening match of the Gold Cup on Sunday.
“This Haitian team is very well coached and you can see they are well organised. They have players playing in the top leagues all over the world and I thought the exercise was an even match and the draw was a good result. We had some good chances and they also had a number of half-chances but, all in all, it was a good exercise,” Eve assessed.
As far as the fitness of his players, Eve said they came out of the game without any major injuries and that the players acquitted themselves well in the difficult conditions.
“We came out of this match without any major injuries. Daniel Phillip got a little dead-leg but we should be able to solve that problem come game time,” said Eve, adding, “Everybody had to play.”
He continued: “We gave the group that started first a little bit more time. Both groups acquitted themselves well. The second-half group, it was a little bit difficult. It was very hot and humid so they needed about five or six minutes to get into the rhythm of the game but when they settled down, you could see the formation and the work that we have been doing,” the T&T coach noted.
Going forward, Eve said they will be working on set-pieces and how they are going to deal with free-kicks and corners.
“After this exercise, we are mainly going to concentrate on our free-kicks and corners and how we defend against free-kicks and corners. After tonight we will know the opposition that we will play in the first match. We know the other teams that are in the group and we want to go out there and put our best foot forward for the country like we have been doing,” he concluded.
T&T will play in Group A and will open their campaign on Sunday at 3.30 p.m. against either St Kitts-Nevis or French Guiana.
The second round Gold Cup qualification match between St Kitts-Nevis and French Guiana was scheduled to be played last night with the winner joining T&T, Jamaica and USA in Group A.
SOURCE: T&T Express