Another Defeat but T&T U20S Keep on Pressing
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF)
Trinidad and Tobago’s Under 20 footballers could not end their losing run in Cyprus but again left the pitch with another credible performance despite going down 2-0 to the United States in Friday’s training fixture in Aiya Napa.
In what was their final warm up encounter against international opposition before heading to Egypt on Sunday, the Zoran-Vranes coached team conceded goals on either side of half time and was again guilty of missing decent chances on goal which could have led to a different scoreline.
“We lost game but again I am not disappointed with the performance. The good thing is that we realize that we can compete and do even better against teams like them just like we did against Australia. As a matter of fact I can say we had ball in front of their goal much more than we had in front of ours. But of course we still have to make use of our chances and continue to develop on our game for Egypt,” Vranes told TTFF Media after the loss.
“Maybe we were a bit tired for this game having trained all week and played yesterday but again we are preparing for the big occasion next week.”
English-born midfielder Jake Thomson, now with two appearances for T&T under his belt, said he was beginning to feel at home in a T&T shirt and expects to settle in even further by the time the first game comes around on September 24 against Egypt.
“They were disappointing results but at the end of the day it’s training matches and the results don’t matter at the end of the day as long as we get a good work out,” said the Southampton midfielder.
“I thought the guys were fantastic today. We conceded but we kept going and then we conceded a second time and we still kept going. It’s pleasing for me especially for me coming in and never playing with the boys before, it was refreshing to see because a lot of teams would have given up and died. That only shows that we will do well in this World Cup because if we go 1-0 down and we know that we are good enough to keep going then we’ll be fine. Once we get a couple of goals we’ll be on fire,” Thomson added.
Brek Shea put USA ahead in the 13th minute after the Americans were forced to defend some early surges forward by T&T with efforts by Marcus Joseph and Marcus Manswell causing some anxious moments.
Shea’s goal came against the run of play as he capitalized on poor marking to break free on the left, collecting a pass from Tony Taylor before slotting past goalkeeper Jesse Fullerton.
T&T, with an almost totally different start team from the one which lost 2-1 to Australia a day earlier, with only Khaleem Hyland keeping his place, pressed from early on. After just a minute’s action, Manswell had his right footer from an outside right position flash past the near post and a minute later Joseph fired over bar from atop the box following a left side delivery by Sheldon Bateau.
Juma Clarence, T&T’s lone score against the “Aussies” got the start ahead of Jamal Gay and also had a try in the 9th minute but he failed to get enough power on his low shot to trouble US goalkeeper Brian Perk.
The Americans, coached by Thomas Rongen, were organized and looked threatening on corners and everytime there was a free kick around the penalty box.
Vranes introduced Jake Thomson, Robert Primus, Daneil Cyrus, Uriah Bentick, Glenroy Samuel, Jean Luc Rochford and Gay after the break and T&T’s approach was a bit more organized.
The Americans, though solid at the back, were forced on numerous occasions to hold off a T&T attack desperate for a goal or two. Sean De Silva had two good opportunities to level the scores but could not get the right finishing touch. First in the 66th minute, Thomson found De Silva in an open position on the left of the box but he shot straight to the ‘keeper and six minutes later Gay forced his way past his man before crossing from the right but De Silva could only fire over bar from just inside the box.
T&T continued to pile on the pressure and Gay was unlucky when his close range header bounced off a US defender close to the goal.
Six minutes from the end Molino’s snapped shot was kept out by an alert Perk.
The Americans never lost their composure though and surged forward in numbers on the odd occasion. They got their second item in the 86th minute when Powell’s right side corner was clinically headed home by Bryan Arguez.
The T&T team will return to the practice pitch on Sunday morning and then they depart for Cairo later that day.
