Haiti fall to new-look T&T.
Hosts meet Mexican U-23s tonight.
By: Ian Prescott (Express).
In the final few moments, Haiti could not get a touch of the ball, as a young Trinidad and Tobago team stroked the sphere confidently around the pitch, holding onto Andre Toussaint's 77th minute goal on the way to a comfortable 1-0 victory in Monday's Digicel Shield semi-final at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Even before substitute striker Toussaint collected a pass outside the box and slipped the ball between the legs of Gabart Fenelon in the Haitian goal, many were already impressed with the T&T squad, which looked solid all night.
Haiti never looked likely to break the solid back-four, manned by Keyeno Thomas and Anthony Noreiga in the centre, with right back Nickelson Thomas and left back Andrei Pacheco in the wide positions.
The hometown victory set up tonight's Digicel Shield Final against a Mexican under-23 team, after the Central Americans were held 0-0 by St Vincent and the Grenadines, but prevailed 8-7 on penalty kicks, in Monday's earlier game.
Two hours preceding the 7 p.m. final, Haiti tackle SVG for third place. Admission is $100 for the covered stand and $50 to the uncovered terraces.
Trinidad and Tobago's performance on Monday was a far cry from January 23 when the Haitians defeated the local team before a big crowd to grab the 2007 Digicel Caribbean Cup.
A lot has changed since then. First, there were but a couple hundred of the "die-hards" to see players who are known only to the very few who take in the T&T Pro League.
And Haiti were the better team five months ago, but even with their full CONCACAF Gold Cup squad this time around, they conceded possession for long periods to their hosts.
To say that Trinidad and Tobago played well was a gross understatement, in light of the fact that national coach Wim Rijsbergen had eight different starters from those who played the Caribbean Cup finals.
Forced to do without his World Cup stars, who were omitted due to a dispute with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation, Rijsbergen looked to the Pro League for players like 22-year-old goalkeeper Marvin Phillip; Romauld Aguillera, 28, of United Petrotrin; Christon Baptiste, 27, Defence Force; W Connection's 25-year-old Nickelson Thomas; 26-year-old Anthony Noreiga (Joe Public); Andrei Pacheco, 25, W Connection; and 25-year-old Andre Toussaint (W Connection).
All gave solid performances. Aguillera worked tirelessly in central midfield, while Thomas, Pacheco and Noreiga also looked good.
And though he did not score, Darryl Roberts was everywhere and looked to have learnt something from his time with Sparta Rotterdam in Holland.
It may be premature but many already think that after their solid showing against Haiti, the new boys could well ensure that a few of the World Cup players played their last games in national colours.
Coach Rijsbergen, often quite reserved in his assessment, was pleased.
"The guys are in good spirts. You saw today they worked very hard. Of course, there is still room for improvement in any team, but I was satisfied with the performance," he said.
Rijsbergen still felt there is much work to be done to bring his inexperienced squad up to the level of the Gold Cup giants they will meet from June 6-24 in the United States. The Dutchman will make a few changes, giving other players a chance to show their potential tonight against the young Mexicans, before settling on his final starting line-up when the team play a final friendly in Honduras on Saturday.
On Monday, Haiti set a fair standard for T&T's Gold Cup aspirants. Since becoming Caribbean champions, the Haitians have defeated Honduras (3-1), El Salvador (1-0) and Panama (3-0) , three of the teams they meet in the Gold Cup, and also drew 0-0 with Chile. More impressive is that their first two victories came away from home.
Early on in the Shield semi, T&T's Roberts set up a shot for strike partner Gary Glasgow from the edge of the penalty box, while Noreiga's long punt from the back forced the Haitian keeper to bravely save at Roberts' feet.
Haiti also played their part, twice putting the ball across the face of the T&T goal, but except for those chances in the opening half-hour, they struggled to pry open the home team's defence.
Keyeno Thomas showed that at 30 he is still a force at central defence and also provided an offensive threat when almost putting in a corner-kick near the half.
It all proved too much for Luis Amelio Garcia, Haiti's Cuban coach, who lost his cool and was dismissed for pointing his hand in an aggressive fashion at the fourth official.
In the second half, Haiti's Brunel Fucien did get one good shot at Phillip, after a slip from T&T defender Noreiga, but for the most part the Haitians looked well contained.
Afterwards, captain Densill Theobald praised his players.
"I thought the performance of the team was good," said Theobald, who especially wanted to beat Haiti. "Hats off to the guys cause we worked very hard for the last few days and it showed out there. But, it showed in spurts and that is the major thing we have to work on."
