Daniel double guides Warriors to 3-1 win
By Shaun Fuentes (TTFF)
Trinidad and Tobago secured its first three points of the CONCACAF Semi Final round of World Cup qualification with a 3-1 victory over Cuba at the Estadio Pedro Merrero on Wednesday night.
The win was a reward for the gritty display by the "Soca Warriors" before 2,200 fans and came from three beautifully taken goals. United Petrotrin silenced the buoyant home fans with a clinical left footed rifle in the 22nd minute.
And as Cuba continued to press and looked threatening at various points of the match forcing Marvin Phillip to make some timely saves, Daniel turned up to curl a left footed free kick from the edge of the penalty box into the right corner of the goal in the 52nd minute. Cornell Glen then sealed the three points for T&T with another well taken goal in the 69th minute.
Francisco Maturana's team, which started the slower of the two teams had an early setback when midfielder Chris Birchall was forced to go off because of stomach cramps and his replacement Khaleem Hyland was later sent off for violent play in the 71st minute.
Cuba pulled a goal back in the 88th minute when Jeniel Marquez Molina won an air battle with Dennis Lawrence to powerfully head home from a right side cross.
Following the win, Maturana expressed satisfaction with the team's ability to collect the points on the road.
"It is a good result from us to start the round. Getting three points away from Trinidad was a great achievement and now we must try to continue to achieve good results. I was happy to see the team work according to our plan and we scored our three goals very well. Cornell Glen for me was very good tonight again. He started alone and he did what we needed from him. And Keon (Daniel) for me can always give you that possibility (in attack) and tonight he showed us how well he can do it. I am happy about the result," Maturana told TTFF Media after the win.
Cuban front duo Roberto Linares and Heriel Cordoves managed to make some inroads into the T&T penalty box in the first half and were also willing to trying the goal from outside. On ten minutes a powerful crack from Linares brought the best out of Phillip.
A couple minutes earlier T&T had their first shy at goal when a Birchall cross almost met the head of Glen.
Just as the Cubans began to settle, T&T broke the deadlock through Daniel. Midfielder Clyde Leon played one for him to collect behind the defender and he moved goalwards before placing a left footer past Luis Quintero on his near left post.
Cuba thought they had the equalizer three minutes later but Jensse Munos’ effort was ruled offside after he knocked in the rebound following Phillip’s initial block.
After the half time break, Maturana maintained the 4-5-1 formation and Cuba continued to press for the equalizer but nothing would beat Phillips and his defense of Dennis Lawrence, Avery John, Cyd Gray and Makan Hislop stood firm when they had to.
On 58 minutes T&T’s Densill Theobald should have done better with a left side delivery by Daniel but he failed to control the ball around the top centre of the box and soon after Hyland’s ambitious drive drifted away from the upright.
It was then time for the Daniel show to continue as the Petrotrin man turned up with another of his trademark free kicks, curling a left footer into the right corner of the net from the top edge leaving Quintero for dead.
Munos tried to capitalize on a bad clearance from the usually reliable Dennis Lawrence, turning and firing one wide of Phillip’s far post in the 63rd.
Glen, like he did against El Salvador put on a demonstration on finishing. He collected from Hyland just outside the box and quickly looked up and saw the opportunity for goal, hitting a right footer away from the ‘keeper and into the right corner to put the game out of Cuba’s reach The 100 odd T&T fans in the stands were now celebrating in style for a third time on the evening.
Two minutes later though Hyland was given an immediate red for an apparent stamp as he made a late attempt to block an incoming challenge after delaying on the initial pass. Leonel Durante came off the bench for Cuba and looked lively down the stretch but by then Cuba’s lights were already out. Molina’s header eventually beat Phillips for a late consolation for the hosts who continued to play even forced three corners in the closing minute. Already T&T were counting three points and looking ahead to Guatemala on September 6 a the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
T&T: - 1.Marvin Phillip; 8.Cyd Gray (capt), 4.Makan Hislop, 6.Dennis Lawrence, 3.Avery John; 7.Christopher Birchall (16.Khaleem Hyland 38th), 2.Clyde Leon, 12.Densill Theobald (10.Darryl Roberts 68th), 17.Keon Daniel; 9.Anthony Wolfe, 13.Cornell Glen (5.Osei Telesford 74th).
Cuba: - 1.Dany Luis Quintero; 2.Silvio Pedro Minoso, 3.Yenier Marquez, 5.Jorge Luis Clavelo, 13.Carlos Francisco, 16.Reysander Fernandez, 14.Jaine Colome, 11.Jennse Munos (17.Pedro Faife 81st), 7.Luis Hermilo Villegas (9.Alain Cervantes 56th), 18.Heriel Cordoves (19.Leonel Duarte 56th), 10.Roberto Linares.
Daniel: It was my day
Double goalscorer Keon Daniel said his performance in Havana was a result of hard work and belief.
The United Petrotrin midfielder, a former National Under 20 team member was not in the start team for the 1-0 loss to Haiti in Port-Au-Prince but was included in the first eleven against El Salvador and Francisco Maturana kept him in for the Cubans.
“I always believed in myself and it worked out well tonight. I knew there would be a time when I would come up big,” Daniel told TTFF Media.
“To tell you the truth it all come from the coachman. He continuously keep telling me to play hard, shoot and believe in myself. I always play better away from home. The pressure is less. This came from hard work. I have to keep working on it.,” Daniel added.
“I think we wanted the three points and we went there and got it. We are in a good position with the win now and we have to win again against El Salvador. I want to make it to the World Cup because that’s the biggest stage.”
T&T’s third goalscorer Cornell Glen felt the win on the road was just the right start for the “Soca Warriors”.
“Definitely it’s the right start for us especially before we play Guatemala and USA. It felt good to play a part with the goal. Putting a lot of focus on my international career is what I always wanted to do. I’ve been working really hard to make a comeback from the injury and it’s starting to pay off with the three goals. We have to keep up this momentum,” Glen added.
Skipper on the night, Cyd Gray credited his teammates for pulling the first one on Cuba.
“We wanted three points because Cuba is a team we knew could be a bit tricky. They ran hard and they never gave up but we showed that we are a team that can pull off upsets because to me it’s an upset result for Cuba as they were home. Getting points from another team in their home ground is a plus and we did it. I think we can keep it up and get another win against Guatemala now,”Gray said.
T&TFF Special Advisor Jack Warner was a proud man in Havana as well.
“Before the game I said I felt we should go all out for the win and that came to past. The result was the start we were hoping for and I want to congratulate Mr Maturana and his team for a well played victory. Cuba proved to be a good opposition because they came at us and they never stayed down. OF course it means that our team produced the kind of performance that not even the valiant effort of Cuba could overcome. This sets the stage for the team for the rest of the round which I am sure we will continue to go from strength to strength,” Warner stated
The T&T contingent will return home at 4:20pm on Thursday. Dennis Lawrence, Osei Telesford, Darryl Roberts and Chris Birchall returned to their respective clubs on Thursday.
