Ecuador edge T&T women to secure final World Cup spot

In the process, the female national squad sadly emulated their male counterparts of 25 years ago when, needing just a draw to qualify for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, the Trinidad and Tobago “Strike Squad” lost 1-0 to the United States.

And, once again, tears were shed at the stadium, with some of the players weeping as they left the field, their dream of representing Trinidad and Tobago in Canada next year being crushed by the visitors. 

Dominating yesterday’s match for the most part, the host team paid the price for failing to put away a couple of good chances and the game was lost in the final minutes when Quinteros’s timely touch directed a free-kick past under-worked T&T keeper Kaimika Forbes, who raced erratically to meet the ball.

Hard-working midfielder Mariah Shade still had a chance to rescue a draw for T&T, but hit wide in the dying seconds. 

Attempting to qualify for its first-ever Women’s World Cup, the national team was coming off a goalless draw in the first leg in Ecuador and, once again, 90 minutes saw the teams without any goals...until the final gut-wrenching moment. 

For much of the second half, T&T forced the action and looked like getting the victory.

Striker Kennya Cordner almost gave the home team the perfect start to the second session when putting Ahkeela Mollon’s cross onto the crossbar in the 48th minute.

The Women Warriors applied some pressure and some worries for the visitors without finding the lethal touch.

Cordner seemed to have found the breakthrough opportunity on the right in the 78th minute, but keeper Shirley Berruz brought off a good low save and later also pushed away another goal-bound Mariah Shade shot.

Earlier, Trinidad and Tobago controlled most of the first half, despite creating just the one clear chance, in the 19th minute, when Cordner headed wide Tasha St Louis’s cross from atop the six-yard box.

Ecuador chased shadows for much of the opening half, but could have scored themselves.

T&T defender Rhea Belgrave put in a last-gasp tackle to stop powerful striker Monica Quinteros racing to goal near the half-hour mark and goalkeeper Forbes also anticipated well when blocking an attempted overhead kick from Erika Vasquez just before the half ended. 

In losing, the national women failed to follow the senior men, qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Pain again at Stadium
By Kern De Freitas (Express).

So close, yet so far.

Again T&T’s footballers finished the bridesmaids and missed out on World Cup qualification by a whisker.

A stoppage time winner by Ecuador against the run of play put a damper on what had been a great party up until then.

But in some ways, yesterday evening represented a renaissance for football in Trinidad and Tobago.

There were no parking spaces in Woodbrook, Wrightson Road or anywhere in the vicinity of Hasely Crawford Stadium, the venue for last night’s clash between Trinidad and Tobago and Ecuador.

The stadium’s interior was a sea of red, and—dare I say it?—most of the patrons were on time, with hundreds more stuck at the entry lanes trying to get in, a scene not unlike a line to Port of Spain’s Immigration Office headquarters, except with greater levels of success.

Scalpers were out in their numbers alongside flag vendors and myriad other interested parties to a sell-out crowd, a scene witnessed last perhaps when the English national team visited as part of T&T football’s centenary celebrations in 2008.

The difference? The Women Soca Warriors stood in the spotlight usually reserved for their male counterparts hoping their road led to World Cup history would end more like the men’s Germany 2005 journey rather than 1989’s Road to Italy.

The atmosphere, too, was one of genuine support.

This was the same team that played before next-to-empty arenas and went to training camp with their pockets just as void. The team that represented T&T with class on the Caribbean and Gold Cup stages with little backing, and without payment until Government’s recent intervention, took this country to the brink of qualification for its first women’s World Cup, and having ground out a 0-0 draw in tough Ecuador conditions, had come home to finish the job.

This time it was more than just the T&T Football Association (TTFA) marketing machinery that brought the crowd out. It was national pride. They sang the national anthem the way it should be sung, but rarely ever is. They cheered on the team with gusto and booed the opposition and at times even referee Esther Staubli of Switzerland.

And they had lots left for MX Prime’s vibrant half-time performance, whose hit “Soca Warriors” was a rallying cry for the T&T men in 2005.

The players fed off that energy on the field, which perhaps worked against them somewhat. They had many chances, near misses and nervy attempts in the final third of the field as they searched for the winner against a valiant but more conservative Ecuador side.

No moment was more exciting and frustrating than when Kennya Cordner, the little engine room of the T&T attack, hit the upright with Ecuadorean goalkeeper Shirley Berruz beaten on 77 minutes, one of three golden second half opportunities.

In the end, though, it was an error by goalkeeper Kimika Forbes that gave Ecuador their World Cup berth, as she misjudged a free kick and committed herself, giving Monica Quinteros a chance to slot home. It must have been heartbreaking for Forbes, a player who, before that incident, had been particularly solid.

It ended another dream for T&T, less than two weeks after T&T football marked its solemn 1989 anniversary on November 19.

It made it tough for the fans to enjoy Benjai’s closing act. Perhaps another MX Prime theme song specially penned for the Women Warriors might have made the difference.

Four teams will now represent CONCACAF at Saturday’s Women’s World Cup draw in Ottawa: Canada (host), United States (CONCACAF champion), Costa Rica (runner-up) and Mexico (third place).

Teams

Trinidad and Tobago: 1.Kimika Forbes; 8.Patrice Superville, 4.Rhea Belgrave, 5.Arin King, 14.Karyn Forbes; 9.Maylee Attin-Johnson (capt); 12.Ahkeela Mollon, 16.Brianna Ryce, 11.Janine Francois (7.Dernelle Mascall 80th), 19.Kennya Cordner; 10.Tasha St Louis (3.Mariah Shade 37th).

Unused substitutes: 17.Sandra Baron (GK), 2.Ayanna Russell, 6.Khadidra Debessette, 13.Anique Walker, 16.Jasmine Sampson, 18.Khadisha Debessette, 20.Lauryn Hutchinson.

Coach: Randy Waldrum.

Ecuador: 1.Shirley Berruz; 7.Ingrid Rodriguez, 3.Lorena Aguilar, 16.Ligia Moreira, 6.Angie Ponce; 13.Madeline Riera (19.Kerly Real 58th), 20.Andrea Pesantes, 5.Mayre Olivera, 8.Erika Vasquez; 10.Ambar Torres (18.Adriana Barre 80th); 14.Monica Quinteros (11.Elizabeth Caicedo 94th).

Unused substitutes: 4.Merly Zambrano, 9.Gianina Lattanzio, 12.Irene Tobar, 15.Palacios Mendoza, 17.Tamara Angulo.

Coach: Vanessa Aráuz.

Canada dry: Ecuador heartbreak as W/Warriors concede W/Cup race.
By Lasana Liburd (wired868).

At just after 8 pm yesterday, on Tuesday December 2, Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Kimika Forbes lay face down inside her own penalty area and seemed to will the ground to swallow her whole. Up in the stands of the Hasely Crawford Stadium, the seats were emptying fast.

In the four minutes that flew past between Monica Quinteros’ devastating goal for Ecuador and referee Esther Staubli’s final blast of the whistle, more than 5,000 patrons found their way through the exits.

There was symmetry to the so-called 12th Warriors’ dash for their cars. Most of them had never seen the national women’s team play live before. They had paid record prices for tickets to be a part of history; not to nurse heartbroken players.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Canada 2015 World Cup dream ended so abruptly in Port of Spain that, by Christmas, maybe some would wonder if it ever happened at all. Not the heartbroken “Women Soca Warriors”, of course.

At the final whistle, young women in red shirts crumbled to the grass all over the field. Attacker Kennya “YaYa” Cordner was in tears while Sweden-based winger Ahkeela Mollon was later whisked away in an ambulance after complaining that she had difficulty breathing.

Forbes was absolutely distraught. It took a group of teammates and technical staff members to get her out of the glare of the stadium’s lights and into the tunnel that led to the women’s dressing room.

But who knows what it would take to take erase the memory of Ecuador’s late goal, which robbed Forbes, her teammates and the country of a moment in history that can never be regained.

Twenty-five years ago, Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Michael Maurice claimed to have been partially blinded by the sunlight as a speculative long ranged Paul Caligiuri effort bounced past him to give the United States a decisive lead in the race for the final 1990 World Cup berth.

At least that goal came in the first half and the “Strike Squad” needed only an equaliser, which never came. Forbes failed to spot Quintero’s flicked effort, from a left side Angie Ponce free kick, in stoppage time last night; and it meant the Women Warriors had to score twice in four minutes.

Forbes held herself culpable; and maybe the team’s new-found followers might remember it that way. But those who followed this band of young women for the past three months or two years know differently.

In the end, the Warriors could not escape the sins of their poor preparation.

Win, lose or draw, the future of Ecuador’s women’s game was not in danger yesterday. Last year, the Ecuadorean Government bankrolled the South American nation’s first women’s domestic league while its fresh-faced 25-year-old coach Vanessa Arauz has benefitted from internships with professional male clubs in her homeland. And, for the first FIFA Play Off leg in Quito, the Ecuador FA embraced its own supporters by offering match tickets at between US$2 and US$10.

Ecuador’s investment in the female game is no fly-by-night affair; but a long term commitment.

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) can justify its own pricing, from an economical standpoint, as the stadium was packed and ready to party at a cost of $200 and $100. But what do you make of the audience’s distraction during the game and the mass exodus before the final whistle?

The football squad took nothing for granted in the post-game press conference as it urged stakeholders not to abandon the female game again.

“It is very important moving forward that we capture the momentum and try and build it,” said national coach Randy Waldrum. “We cannot have women’s football go backward and take a back seat again.”

Warriors captain Maylee Attin-Johnson echoed his sentiment.

“You all see now what we can give and what a little investment in women’s football can do,” said Attin-Johnson. “Hopefully the heads that be take charge and continue, not continue, start putting money into women’s football; and we can bear fruit from there.”

Waldrum described his squad as Cinderella team and there has certainly been interest from all over the globe. But, in the ending, the final scene was less a fairytale and more like a clip from “Carlito’s Way.”

The women, against all odds, willed better for themselves. They dragged themselves up from the gutter and danced around a barrage of obstacles; paradise seemed within touching distance.

And then, at almost the last second, came the assassin’s bullet.

Heartbreak did not seem inevitable at about 5 pm when the women literally danced on to the field to warm-up with 10,000 fans screaming in delight while the DJ blasted Super Blue’s infectious “Fantastic Friday.”

For the Caribbean Cup final in August, there were just over 3,000 patrons at the stadium. Yesterday, more than three times as many people were there just to watch them warm-up; and, once the action started, the attendance was about 20,000, which is just 2,000 shy of a full house.

In the opening 15 minutes, Mollon thrice tested Ecuador goalkeeper Shirley Berruz with teasing crosses while, in the 19th minute, Cordner flicked a header wide from six yards after a left side delivery from fit-again veteran Tasha St Louis. St Louis stayed down holding her left leg, though; and, 17 minutes later, she left the playing field on a stretcher.

“La Tricolor” had worked itself into the game by then and had two good scoring opportunities. First, it took a tremendous sprint and tackle from Rhea Belgrave to deny Quinteros in the 33rd minute as the striker chased a pass from teammate Ambar Torres while, two minutes later, Quinteros drove overbar from about 25 yards and Forbes had to save an overhead kick from Torres in the 44th minute.

Two minutes into the second half, the Warriors continued their habit of bright starts under Waldrum as Cordner controlled a Mollon cross and clipped the top of the bar with another overhead kick.

But the game soon returned to its pattern with Trinidad and Tobago controlling possession in non-threatening areas but relying almost solely on the pace of Mollon rather than intricate inter-play to open up the opposing team. And Mollon’s crosses were not finding their mark with enough regularity.

By the hour mark, the frustration was starting to bubble over and the Swiss referee cautioned Cordner for trying to drag the ball away from a theatrical Berruz to take a free kick.

At the time, the Trinidad and Tobago supporters were entertaining themselves with “Mexican waves.”

The Warriors’ best opportunity came in the 77th minute when Mollon slipped the ball through for Cordner on the right flank as the Ecuador defence stepped forward in an unsuccessful attempt at the offside trap.

Substitute Mariah Shade, one of the team’s best finishers at the Caribbean Cup MVP, was free in a central position. But Cordner cut inside to beat Berruz herself and was denied low by the Ecuador goalkeeper.

Shade threatened with a cross-cum-shot from an unlikely angle in the 84th minute. But, seconds before the end of regulation time, Ecuador won a free kick down the left flank and Quinteros seized the moment.

Ponce’s spot kick whizzed into a crowded penalty area and the speedy striker flicked it hopefully towards goal. Forbes would have held it easily if she was on her line. But she was not; she had been sucked into the crowd just on top of her six-yard box.

Forbes may have time for a quick prayer as she watched the ball bounced, teasingly, on the grass behind her. The stadium gasped as they wondered what would happen next.

Quinteros and Ecuador were praying too. They had never qualified for a Women’s World Cup and obviously doubted that God had a Trinidad and Tobago passport.

And then the ball crossed the line and snuggled against the net. La Tricolor roared; Trinidad and Tobago fans left.

Brianna Ryce, the ever-bustling utility player, got the final chance of the match; but her snatched, lunging effort rolled wide and she looked as if she started crying from the moment she made awkward contact with the ball.

Staubli had seen enough and her final blast of the whistle might haunt the Warriors’ dreams for some time.

“It’s almost a replay of the guys in ‘89,” said Waldrum. “If you don’t put the team away and let them hang around, these things can happen to you. Unfortunately, football can be cruel.”

Attin-Johnson said she felt as though in a nightmare.

“I think for us even though we have inspired a lot of people and we have paved a little bit of way for women’s football,” said the team captain, “we still didn’t accomplish what we set out to accomplish. For us, we are very much disappointed in ourselves.”

Arauz was unashamedly delighted.

“I feel so good because it is the first time Ecuador (qualified) for a Women’s World Cup,” she said. “So I feel it is the best thing in the world.”

The petite Arauz, who is three years younger than Attin-Johnson, described the atmosphere as “cool.” A former midfielder who never won an international cap for her country, Arauz began coaching at 22—three years ago—after a knee injury ended her playing career.

Last night, she made the biggest decision of the match by starting Quinteros ahead of her country’s poster girl, Gianina Lattanzio, who was their top scorer in qualifying. And, even as extra time beckoned, Arauz believed that choice would win the match.

“Lattanzio is a good strong player,” said Arauz, who made three personnel changes and a tactical alteration since the first leg. “But we wanted someone faster for this game.”

Waldrum, who is 53, started coaching 11 years before Arauz was born. He hopes to continue in the Trinidad and Tobago programme and the national players and the media asked for his retention during last night’s press conference.

TTFA general secretary Sheldon Phillips, who hired him in the first place, suggested, with a nod of the head, that there was no chance of the Texan leaving.

But then again, Trinidad and Tobago does not do post-mortems. This country—and least of all, the TTFA—is not fond of accountability.

Waldrum, who worked without a salary, has suffered from the farcical issues that afflicted the Warriors at times in their campaign. Yet, perhaps someone might ask why his team, despite its undeniable competence in defence, only managed three or four shots on target in Port of Spain yesterday; and just 20 shots in its last seven matches combined including an hour of extra time against Costa Rica and Mexico.

Ecuador was rewarded for supporting its own improbably youthful coach yesterday. The TTFA, despite hosting coaching courses for decades, has less confidence in its home-grown products. That might explain why Phillips was already assuring Waldrum before he had even consulted with the chairman of the TTFA’s technical committee, Richard Quan Chan.

Attin-Johnson hopes to enter the local workforce soon along with Mollon. Both women hold degrees.

“In the next four years, I will be 32 with about three knee surgeries,” said Attin-Johnson. “So I am not sure what the future holds.”

With former national stand-outs like Russell Latapy still being owed money, the Warriors captain might be better off using her Sport Management degree in the public or private sector.

One can only hope that the women’s work over the past two years will not be in vain.

“As you can see, not a lot was pumped into women’s football and we reached to this point,” said Attin-Johnson. “So hopefully the younger ones coming up won’t have to go through what we went through.”

There were still about 14,000 spectators who applauded the women off the field. Maybe half that number will return if the Women Warriors take to the field within the next three months; and it could be a starting point for their continued evolution.

Forbes, the Caribbean’s top goalkeeper, will be an important part of that picture.

“Kimika is near and dear to my heart,” said Attin-Johnson. “Kimika sacrificed a whole lot and has been through it; through the good, the bad and the indifferent. (She) is a very passionate player so it is hard to calm her down at this moment…

“But I will talk to her because she has a very bright future.”

After 1989, another 16 years passed before the men got to the World Cup finals in Germany. Hopefully the Women Warriors will not have to wait so long.

(Teams)

Trinidad and Tobago (4-1-4-1): 1.Kimika Forbes (GK); 8.Patrice Superville, 4.Rhea Belgrave, 5.Arin King, 14.Karyn Forbes; 9.Maylee Attin-Johnson (captain); 12.Ahkeela Mollon, 16.Brianna Ryce, 11.Janine Francois (7.Dernelle Mascall 80), 19.Kennya Cordner; 10.Tasha St Louis (3.Mariah Shade 37).

Unused substitutes: 17.Sandra Baron (GK), 2.Ayanna Russell, 6.Khadidra Debessette, 13.Anique Walker, 16.Jasmine Sampson, 18.Khadisha Debessette, 20.Lauryn Hutchinson.

Coach: Randy Waldrum

Ecuador (4-4-1-1): 1.Shirley Berruz (GK); 7.Ingrid Rodriguez, 3.Lorena Aguilar, 16.Ligia Moreira, 6.Angie Ponce; 13.Madeline Riera (19.Kerly Real 58), 20.Andrea Pesantes, 5.Mayre Olivera, 8.Erika Vasquez; 10.Ambar Torres (18.Adriana Barre 80); 14.Monica Quinteros.

Unused substitutes: 4.Merly Zambrano, 9.Gianina Lattanzio, 11.Elizabeth Caicedo, 12.Irene Tobar, 15.Palacios Mendoza, 17.Tamara Angulo.

Coach: Vanessa Arauz

Referee: Esther Staubli (Switzerland)

FIFA 2015 World Cup Play Off

Second Leg
(Tue Dec 2)

Trinidad and Tobago 0, Ecuador 1 (Monica Quinteros 90) at Port of Spain;

First Leg
(Sat Nov 8.)

Ecuador 0, Trinidad and Tobago 0 at Quito.