Panama vs. Trinidad and Tobago – Warriors Never Say Die in a Sea of Red
By Chambi Sey.
In raw terms, the Trinidad and Tobago men’s national team is tasked with getting Panama head coach Bolillo Gomez to quit his post. Following Panama’s loss to Mexico on Friday, on the seventh matchday of the fifth round of World Cup qualification within CONCACAF, Gomez stated flatly “if we don’t defeat Trinidad and Tobago, I am going to quit.” The defeat dropped Panama from fourth to fifth in the standings, and shifted Mexico from working to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, to having qualified for the tournament. Of the six teams in the table, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States failed to add to the points tally each had accumulated prior to entering the matchday. The outcomes of the matches, United States vs. Costa Rica (2-0 in favor of the Costa Ricans) and Mexico vs. Panama (1-0), favored Trinidad and Tobago, but the Socawarriors, as hosts to Honduras, delivered a torpid performance to preserve their location at the base of the standings. Gomez, not a stranger to coaching national teams, understood what he needed to do to create leverage.
Positioned on a meagre three points, defeat of Honduras would have elevated Trinidad and Tobago to six points entering the battle in Panama City tonight, versus a Panama rooted on seven points. The failure to secure the win versus Honduras is likely to be considered unforgivable among a sector of fans and to have reinforced the alienation of those supporters who rejected the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association’s decision to locate the Honduras match venue at the Ato Boldon Stadium. However, supporters with acute memories will recall other momentous incidents of capitulation by the national team, when the occasions required outcome-oriented playing renditions of a higher order (losing to Martinique during the Caribbean Cup and succumbing to Haiti in Copa America Centenario qualifying). It may be that the players are extracting their perceived best, but on their inconsistency in appetite for presenting an effective, cohesive visual product it is more likely that a clinical gut-check and timely payment from the football federation would contribute prescriptions for improvement. Nonetheless, although supporters of the team are pained by the circumstances, no one could be more devastated than the players themselves. Most professional players want to qualify for a World Cup. However, each qualification cycle players learn that doing so is comprised of factors within their control, factors beyond their control and good fortune.
Trinidad and Tobago national team head coach Dennis Lawrence does not have to guess or rationalize the composition of the opposing Panamanian XI. On Sunday, more than 48 hours in advance of the opening whistle, Bolillo Gomez and the Panamanian federation announced the names of the players who are slated to start versus Trinidad and Tobago. The announcement constituted a transparent departure from the shrouds of secrecy that not infrequently cloak matches on the World Cup qualification calendar. Less an acknowledgment of the adage that secrets no longer exist in football, the announcement reflects a sense of acquiescence and recognition in the Panamanian camp that it has specific cards to play and its decision-makers are comfortable playing them early.
With Jaime Penedo (Dynamo Bucharest) unavailable due to an injury impacting hip flexion and knee extension, Jose Calderon (CD Marathon, Honduras) will put on the gloves. Two Major League Soccer (MLS) players – skipper Roman Torres (Seattle Sounders) and Fidel Escobar (New York Red Bulls) – will anchor the central defense. Luis Ovalle (Deportivo Tolima, Colombia) and Michael Murillo (New York Red Bulls) will occupy the left and right flanks respectively. In the center of the park, Anibal Godoy (San Jose Earthquakes) and Gabriel Gomez (Atletico Bucamaranga, Colombia) will function as double pivots in an adaptable 4-2-3-1 system of play. Edgar Yoel Barcenas (Cafetaleros de Tapachula, Mexico) will occupy the left attacking flank cutting inside and Alberto Quintero (Universitario, Peru) will execute mirroring actions operating from the right attacking band. Spearheading the attack will be Blas Perez (CSD Municipal, Guatemala) supported in central channels by Gabriel Torres (Lausanne Sport, Switzerland) in a withdrawn role. Should Bolillo Gomez stick with the proposed starting XI, other than Calderon the goalkeeper, the central midfielders and the defender on the left flank would be the only players maintained from the starting XI that took the field against Mexico. While modest or conservative changes in Trinidad and Tobago’s initial XI are anticipated, it is unlikely that Trinidad and Tobago head coach Dennis Lawrence will gamble revolutionary changes that replicate the enterprise of his Colombian coaching colleague. While the occasion may demand it, the historical record does not indicate that Lawrence bets against the house.
Under Lawrence, Jan-Michael Williams (Juticalpa FC, Honduras) has been the clear goalkeeper of preference during World Cup qualification matches (five starts out of five), while Marvin Phillip has appeared in friendly matches. In central defense, Daneil Cyrus (Juticalpa FC, Honduras) has been the dominant common denominator in the pairing of center backs. Cyrus has featured in all five matches, either alongside Curtis Gonzales (Defence Force) or with Sheldon Bateau (Kairat FC, Kazakhstan). As such, Cyrus should be considered a presumptive starter to face the Panamanians in the same role. In Lawrence’s first World Cup engagement (against Panama in Port of Spain), Bateau was unavailable due to card accumulation suspension. Gonzales was deployed and his performance was broadly viewed as meriting continuation in the role for the succeeding match versus Mexico, although the player would eventually be implicated in the assignment of culpability surrounding the winning goal converted by Diego Reyes off Miguel Layun’s corner.
Since returning from injury, Carlyle Mitchell (East Bengal FC, India) delivered a plausible showing against Ecuador, once again demonstrating his value in attacking crosses and diagonal set plays. In the opening hexagonal encounters played in the Hart era (versus Costa Rica at the Hasely Crawford Stadium and Honduras away), Mitchell and Bateau featured as central defenders. While on his best day, Bateau tends to be viewed as the pick of the center backs, he rendered a less than quality performance on Friday against Honduras. Perhaps a question entertained by Lawrence is how to accommodate Mitchell without necessarily sacrificing Bateau.
To the left of the central defenders the overwhelmingly preferred candidate has been Colorado Rapids defender Mekeil Williams, utilized in four of the five matches until being replaced by Kevon Villaroel (Ma Pau Stars), who had not been selected to any of the preceding World Cup qualification match final squads). On the right defending band, the responsibility has been shared between veteran Carlos Edwards on two matchdays and Aubrey David on three occasions. Edwards commenced the campaign in the March 2017 triumph over Panama, was subsequently rested against Mexico a few days later, but resumed the role in the encounter versus the United States away in June. Against Costa Rica, during the same match cycle, David played the entirety of the encounter but Edwards was incorporated into the game as a late substitute to influence Trinidad and Tobago’s attacking efforts in quest of rescuing a point from the match. Since then, Edwards has not participated in the domestic league or in regional competition and his absence from competitive football appears to have impacted his non-inclusion in the squad named for the September qualifying matches.
In central midfield Kevan George (Jacksonville FC) and Khaleem Hyland (Al-Faisaly FC, Saudi Arabia) have started four of five World Cup qualifiers played under Lawrence’s tutelage (against Panama, Mexico, the United States and Honduras). The exception occurred in the match versus Costa Rica in Costa Rica during which Gonzales and Hashim Arcia (Defence Force) were surprisingly handed the reins. On that occasion, Hyland was injected into the fray at the inception of the second half in direct replacement of the ill-fitted Arcia. It is difficult to understate the propriety and necessity of that decision.
Andre Boucaud (Dagenham & Redbridge, England) not named in the squad for the present matchdays, has played a diminished role in the hexagonal since being used with frequency under Lawrence’s predecessor. Boucaud has been restricted to 24 minutes playing time under the present coaching regime, his singular participation occurring versus Mexico in March, during the second qualification outing of 2017, when he replaced Hyland roughly 20 minutes into the second half, also in direct substitution.
In the four advanced roles, the formula has been straightforward. In three of five matches the predominantly favored trio has been the MLS cohort of Joevin Jones (Seattle Sounders), Kevin Molino (Minnesota United FC) and Cordell Cato (San Jose Earthquakes) who have appeared together versus Panama, Mexico and Honduras. As has been well-documented, Cato was dismissed from the squad chosen for the June qualifiers versus the United States and Costa Rica. Barring that occurrence, it is not improbable that he would have been deployed to combine with Jones and Molino on all five occasions. Nathan Lewis (San Juan Jabloteh) was handed a starting role in Cato’s absence.
In the minutes preceding the kick-off of the qualifier in San Jose, Costa Rica Kenwyne Jones (Atlanta United) sustained an injury that prevented him from participating in the match. Prior to aggravating his knee, Jones was the referential target man for the Socawarriors and had featured in multiple successive qualification battles under Lawrence and Stephen Hart. Jamille Boatswain whose previous participations under Lawrence had been earned in the limited capacity of a substitute in the preceding qualifiers, replaced Jones in the starting lineup and the showing rewarded him with a move to Costa Rican club, Alajualense. In the most recent outing versus Honduras, Boatswain reappeared at the point of the attack, albeit innocuously.
In sum, the charge that Dennis Lawrence lacks an idea of his preferred starting XI is without support. In the World Cup qualification matches of which he has been at the helm, Lawrence has demonstrated a clearly identifiable pattern of usage of players. Most of the players have been utilized with consistency and in reference to a central thematic sense of how Lawrence would like to play. The challenge the head coach has confronted is that of crafting a successful and consistent response from the players to the playing identity which appeared to have been imprinted in the match at home to Mexico. With nearly 18,000 fans having already poured into the Estadio Rommel Fernandez at 4:00 pm Panamanian time, the stage is set for a tumultuous test of action and faith for the Trinidad and Tobago national team. Although Trinidad and Tobago will dress in white tonight, their ambition will be cast in red, a color also worn by supporters of Panama’s national team. It may take a Jedi mind trick, but Lawrence and his men can utilize the sea of red to their advantage because warriors never say die in a sea of red.