The Trinidad and Tobago national football team edged Azerbaijan 1-0 in a friendly international last night at the Hasely Crawford Stadium. Striker Scott Sealy, who was recently signed by the Kansas City Wizards in US Major League Soccer (MLS), scored the winner in the 41st minute.
T&T 1 v Azerbaijan 0.
T&T Starting 11:-
-----------Daurance Williams------------
Atiba Charles----Derek King---Anton Pierre---------Rojas
Tiger-------Rougier------------Seabra-------------------
Sealy------Glen-------Glasgow
4-3-3:
An evenly contested first 1/2 with few scoring opportunities was eventually brought to life in the 19th min or so when a seemingly innocuous flicked on ball from an Azerbaijan player, just inside the box eluded keeper Daurance Williams but rebounded favourably (for HIM and T&T) off him and the post. Less than 10 mins after this opportunity, T&T executed one of the best free kicks I have seen in the last FOUR (4) years... Leslie "Tiger" Fitzpatrick jumped over the ball, Rougier lined it up for Anton Pierre who hit a ROCKET that the Azerbaijan keeper could only parry, and Scott Sealy was the first to react, slamming in the rebound from close range! Glasgow had a chance to make it 2-0 for T&T when on a quick counter attack, Sealy, held up the ball and slipped it to him, alone and unmarked, but Glasgow proceeded to dither on the ball too long, allowing a Azerbaijan defender to clear... a scenario that would repeat itself no less than THREE times in the 2nd half!!!
In the second 1/2, Azerbaijan came on strong, and camped in the T&T 1/2 of the field for MOST of the opening 10-15 mins. But we soaked up the pressure well and AGAIN almost struck on the counter. This time it was Rougier with a storming run up the left flank, crossed to "Tiger" who played it to Glasgow who AGAIN proceeded to needlessly dribble and lost the shooting chance presented to him. Then, in a mystifying move, Bertille St Clair opted to take off Sealy (???) and replace him with Angus Eve, along with "Tiger" whose place was taken by Cyd Gray...thus re-switched to a 4-4-2. However it soon became apparent that the WRONG man upfront was taken off, as Glasgow once more collected a ball, turned 2 defenders and in an open space, faked with his left foot and played the ball inadverdently into an Azerbaijan defender. The fans were NOT amused!!! St Clair responded by taking off Glen (??) and bringing on Nigel Pierre. Eve was now asserting himself more and even had a few attempts on goal (Side note here - I am NO Angus Eve fan !!!) But the man looked VERY impressive coming off the bench, and so I hope he retains his place there (on the bench that is). The final change of the night saw Seabra taken off and replaced by Denzil Theobald. THIS change also drew dividends as Theobald linked up well with Rougier in bridging the gap between Defence and mid-field.
After all the hype, Seabra did not do much to impress ME that he will make a SIGNIFICANT impact on the T&T squad. He is definitely a useful, versatile player, but he was NOT impressive in the central midfield role assigned to him tonight. I would like to see him play at left-back in place of Rojas, who had a poor game tonight.
Player Ratings:
| Daurance Williams: A disaster waiting to happen! He does NOT inspire confidence - had little to do, as our defence blocked for him time and time again!! |
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| Derek King: Another disaster in waiting!! This guy CANNOT be considered for ANY of the upcoming qualifiers! His timing of tackles is poor and unlike against the Caribbean opposition he seemed so calm and collected against, tonight he was forced into rash challenges and was lucky to ONLY recieved 1 yellow card. |
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| Atiba Charles: Not particularly good or bad performance, needs to mature some more... clearly only in squad because of injury to Keyeno Thomas. Too one-dimensional, ie: thumping the ball forward out of the defence. |
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| Anton Pierre: Impressed me with his heading ability, winning virtually EVERY ball in the air and covering nicely the zone/area he was assigned. Still can't get over the quality of his free kick too! IF ONLY he could work on his speed!!! |
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| Marlon Rojas: Tenacious tackler, made SEVERAL penetrating runs, but sadly also lost the ball equally as many times by trying to over-elaborate. Still needs to work on his crosses. Love the aggression, but needs to learn when to use it properly. |
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| Anthony Rougier: Another robust performance in the middle...but clearly age is catching up with him, as he started several runs, launched some excellent counter-attacks, and then inexplicably... HELD UP HIS RUN.. that led to balls being played out of play (by virtue of them going to where he was SUPPOSED to be) in advantageous positions. Saw this happen at least twice. Still his work-ethic is PHENOMENAL!!! |
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| Leslie Fitzpatrick: Played out of position (in my humble opinion) he looked poor on the right-wing and was deservedly replaced by Cyd Gray who as a natural winger, looked better there. |
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| Jose Luis Seabra: Was a non-factor really. Didn't do much wrong, but was certainly NOT the "engine room "! An average player, but one who could add some depth to the bench...although I'd prefer to see Andre Boucaud recalled instead! |
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| Gary Glasgow: Came back and tackled, was dazzling in his dribbles when successful and has that unpredictable nature that coaches love... BUT.. wastes WAAAAAAAAY too many scoring opportunties to be seriously considered a starter up-front! |
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| Cornell Glen: Worked hard, ran at defenders well, drew fouls and earned free kicks many times, but he too was wasteful of chances. Would love to see him on the wing, cutting in!!! |
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| Scott Sealy: Intelligent striker, scored, set up Glasgow with a sitter, linked well with Glen and showed great fight! Still a little naive re off-sides and must work on settling down faster, but DEFINITELY a class act. Will improve with MLS experience. |
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| Angus Eve: Made an immediate impact in central midfield, seems to work wonders coming on!!! Actually looked like the Angus of old tonight! |
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| Cyd Gray: Delightful speed, but still too wild for Int'l football! Was unlucky not to score when chasing after a ball, the Azerbaijan keeper PANICKED on seeing Cyd bearing down and kicked the ball straight into him, with the rebound JUST missing the goal! Adds aggression and pace, BUT lacks CONTROL. |
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| Denzil Theobald: Also made a difference with excellent link-up play and made intelligent plays out wide too... should have started or come on earlier. |
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| Nigel Pierre: Wasn't on long enough to get a fair rating, and didn't produce any magic in that short time that I can recall. |
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Met up with Touches, Palos, Swima and hung out with them at 1/2 time, all in all, an enjoyable game, with signs of improvement and a positive result! Good luck on Sunday!!!