USA cruise pass clueless T&T.

[Flex]

Forget about gritty away wins. The United States dismissed Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 at Toyota Park on Wednesday night with some spells of quality attacking football. Goal.com's Kyle McCarthy breaks down both teams.

Trinidad and Tobago (4-5-1).

Marvin Phillip: Not really at fault on any of the goals. Showed little command of his penalty area and gave up a long rebound or two. – 5

Alie Edwards: Did not make a case for displacing the suspended Avery John from the lineup. Sporadic offensive contributions didn't mask the generally ineffective defending. Reckless tackle on Cherundolo shows he's learned something by watching John from the bench. – 4

Keyeno Thomas: The calming presence in the center of the Joe Public defense turned into something considerably less stable on this evening. Needlessly wasted possession at the back during Trinidad's first decent spell of possession. Watched Dempsey surge through for his goal without reacting. Ching consistently got the better of him. And he was the better of the central defenders. – 4

Makan Hislop: The gamble to start Hislop ahead of the experienced Dennis Lawrence did not pay off. Painfully slow and all too willing to lunge in when better discretion was necessary. Looked at least one step off the pace on the evening. Even when he did well in recovery, the intervention nearly ended up creating a chance on goal before the break. – 3.5

Cyd Gray (capt.): A mixed bag from the veteran right back. At times, he looked the part when dispossessing Donovan and Beasley. On the other hand, he should have conceded a penalty when Dempsey skipped around him. – 4.5

Osei Telesford: The one safety valve in the middle of the park. Generally found someone in his own shirt once he got on the ball. Tried to put himself about defensively without much success. Active and tireless in the middle of the park while covering significant ground. – 6

Clyde Leon: Paled in comparison to Telesford. Wasteful with the ball at every turn. At one point, John Harkes commented that Leon “was not marking anyone.” The comment surely applied to his efforts on Bradley's opener. Conceded far too much space and was lucky to avoid a send-off for a reckless challenge on Donovan. – 3.5

Keon Daniel: Ten minutes of scintillating play to start the second half doesn't mask eighty minutes of ineffective play. Service from set pieces left much to be desired. Shows enough pace to be a constant threat, but wasted chances to cross and create more dangerous opportunities. – 5

Densill Theobald (off for Wolfe, 46): Horrific first-half performance showed an inability to keep possession or orchestrate the counter attack. Lucky he made it to halftime without getting the hook. – 3

Carlos Edwards: Bob Bradley would love to have a player like Edwards at his disposal on the right flank. Lots of running and impetus from him. Always looking to go forward without neglecting his defensive duties. Unfortunately for Edwards, there wasn't a ton of support from his teammates. – 7

Cornell Glen: Tough to fault Glen for much of his ineffectiveness tonight. Plowing the lone furrow against Onyewu and Bocanegra isn't an easy task. Managed to get his head down to a low cross, but could only turn it over the bar. Struggled for service, but didn't necessarily capitalize on it when it finally arrived. – 5

Substitutes

Anthony Wolfe (on for Theobald, 46): Added something significant with his willingness to attack. Unlucky not to get a goal when Cherundolo cleared off the line. Had another attempt ruled out for off-side. If there was an attacking move for T&T, the chances were good that Edwards and Wolfe were prominently involved. – 6.5

United States (4-2-3-1)

Tim Howard: The Everton 'keeper had very little to do and didn't look bothered by much of anything. – 6

Heath Pearce: Pearce does not inspire confidence at left back. Carlos Edwards consistently got the better of him all night. When pressured, he was frequently caught in possession or forced into a bad pass. Positional sense needs to improve. Did not impact the match offensively. – 5.5

Carlos Bocanegra (capt.): Does not inspire the confidence Onyewu does, mostly because he just isn't the type of presence to do so and doesn't always clear the ball to the right places. However, Bocanegra rarely puts a foot wrong and made a critical clearing header tonight to deny Glen a certain goal shortly after the break. Led well from the back and remains one of the first names on the teamsheet. – 7.5

Oguchi Onyewu: Onyewu simply dominates the opposition at this level and does not lose headers in the air. Onyewu's aerial win in midfield started Dempsey's goal. Challenging Marvin Phillip on a Beasley free kick set up Ching's goal. Glen didn't get much of a sniff all night. Comprehensive performance. – 8

Steve Cherundolo: Another promising attacking performance from Cherundolo. Good diagonal service and good width while overlapping. A mixed bag defensively. Correct positioning allowed him to clear Anthony Wolfe's header off the line, but picked up yet another needless booking for a rash tackle at midfield. – 7

Sacha Kljestan: Nervy start gave way to an honest shift. Imposed himself in the tackle as the match progressed and generally looked tidy in his passing. Should have done better than a meager shot when presented with a poor clearance by Makan Hislop. – 6

Michael Bradley (off for Clark, 67): This is the Michael Bradley everyone has craved. Established the tempo early. Switched the ball from side to side with sumptuous diagonal balls. Nipped in front to knock home the opener. Conducted the proceedings in midfield. A man of the match performance. – 8

DaMarcus Beasley: The expectations are high for the Rangers man. In the attacking third, he did well to meet them by chinking Dempsey through for the second and playing the free kick resulting in Ching's goal. But there were rough edges – needless offside positioning, marginal wide play, timid shooting and poor marking on Wolfe's goal-bound header – to show that Beasley hasn't hit form yet. – 7

Landon Donovan: Quiet game on the whole from Donovan. Didn't impose his will on the game like Bradley did, though one might wonder if the tactics were even set up for him to do so. The little passing combinations in the attacking third are his specialty and he always seemed to be around if Ching needed to knock the ball back. – 7

Clint Dempsey (off for Lewis, 78): A fine run and finish masked an otherwise anonymous performance. Good movement again, but there is sometimes a lack of cutting thrust to his game. Must prove more consistently dangerous against better teams. – 7

Brian Ching (off for Johnson, 67): For the system Bob Bradley has chosen, Ching is the best available option to lead the line. He's not a great finisher, as evidenced when he muffed a somewhat difficult chance supplied to him by Donovan in the first half and fired well wide from outside the box early in the second half. But Ching does so many of the little things well – holding up the ball and distributing to Donovan in midfield – that he consistently merits inclusion. Tirelessly worked for the cause and gave the Trinidad center backs fits all night. Deserved his tap-in header for his efforts. – 7

Substitutes

Eddie Johnson (on for Ching, 67): Johnson isn't well suited to Bradley's preferred system. He struggles with balls played into his feet and doesn't perform well with his back to goal. Two meek, sidefooted attempts that were blocked before reaching Phillip won't help his case for displacing Ching. – 5.5

Ricardo Clark (on for Bradley, 67): Will continue to contest the second holding midfield role alongside Kljestan and Maurice Edu. The late diving header blocked en route to goal would have added a nice goal to a solid twenty minutes. – 6

Eddie Lewis (on for Dempsey, 78): Will continue to play a role late in matches because he is without doubt the best crosser of the ball Bradley can find. – NR

[FF]

de man give Osei "Fresh Breeze" Telesford ah 6 oui.... de second highest and Skilla get ah 5?

utter utter madness..

[Dinner Mints]

I was disappointed with Shaka Hislop commentating. At one time he even said USA should have gotten a penalty. The other commentators say they have to see the replay first before making a decission, but Shaka came out bold and say it flat. What an asshole to sell his country short, he should have mention how much shit his nephew was playing (Makan).... and stop trying to kiss ESPN ass...

First yuh talk dis chupidness wit Ato, now is Shaka? Dem men not on TV to cheerlead, boss. Dey not on TV broadcasting only to Sam.

[E-man]

Rough Result - T&T Slips To Third After 3-0 Loss
TTFF Media

September 11th, 2008.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Senior footballers put on a disappointing showing and conceded goals on either side of the half to go down 3-0 against the United States in their latest World Cup qualifier at Toyota Park on Wednesday night.

The “Soca Warriors” never settled and conceded in the ninth minute when Michael Bradley got inside two defenders to head home Landon Donovan’s left side free kick. Nothing would go right for the visitors but more would go wrong as nine minutes later, Clint Dempsey made it 2-0 with a powerful right-footed shot into the left side of the net.


Brian Ching added a header in the 57th to round off the scoring for the United States, who virtually guaranteed they will advance to the final "hexagonal" round of qualifying.

T&T slipped to third on the standings behind USA (nine points) and Guatemala (four points) who are ahead on goal difference after coming from a goal down to trounce Cuba 4-1 in Guatemala City. Roberto Linares put the visitors into the lead mid-way through the first half, drawing the hosts' wrath in the process. Guatemala top scorer Carlos Ruiz bagged a pair of goals and Mario Rodriguez and Jorge Contreras added insurance strikes inside the last five minutes.

Francisco Maturana started with the 4-5-1 formation with Cornell Glen being alone up top and Osei Telesford coming into the middle, Aklie Edwards on the left for the suspended Avery John and Makan Hislop coming in for Dennis Lawrence (not injured)  alongside Keyeno Thomas in central defense.

As the game progressed, T&T maintained its formation and Glen was given little room. The same went for Keon Daniel and Carlos Edwards as the Americans controlled the pace of game for the majority of minutes.

Only in the second half when Anthony Wolfe came on for Densill Theobald did T&T look like creating some threat on the USA goal.

What appeared to be going right in the last three games against El Salvador, Cuba and Guatemala just seemed to go all wrong at Toyota Park.

“We just never got off,” Glen told TTFF Media. “We had high hopes coming into the game but we never played the football. We conceded soft goals and the bad thing is that we worked on defending those free kicks because we knew that was USA’s strength and we still allowed them get in there easy. I think everybody is disappointed with this.”

Asked by reporters whether he felt he needed a partner to assist him even as the game progressed Glen responded. “It’s difficult to say because it worked in the previous games and yes I know this is America.But the coach makes the decision and as a professional player we have to abide by his call and try our best to work with it. I can’t say whether I was disappointed with his decision at this time. The result is 3-0 and we have to move on and forget about this game. We have to win in Guatemala,” Glen added.

Maturana had no time for excuses but definitely will need the next twenty days to find solutions before T&T travels to play in Guatemala City on October 11.

“What is there to say except for we didn’t play well and we lost the game. I was not happy with our play. We have to go and try to win our next match now and take it from there.”

Asked whether he felt T&T are now in a must win situation against Guatemala and whether he feels similar about the USA game four days later in Port of Spain, Maturana responded:  “Before this round we saw that Mexico, USA and maybe Costa Rica would always be among the top three and all the other teams would have to try and compete for fourth and even the third spot. The same goes for the second place in our group. I think there is a possibility that whichever team wins the next game (T&T vs Guatemala), they will advance to the next round. Right now I do not think about the match against USA (in October) but we have to focus on Guatemala.

“I don’t talk too much about players as whatever team you have you try to do the best possible (in response to Dwight Yorke’s late withdrawal). It did not work in our favour tonight. I do not make any excuses but we have to work at it again and pick ourselves up in order to dig deep for our results,” Maturana added.


(With excerpts from Reuters)
“It’s ideal, right?” Landon Donovan said. “We were excellent tonight. The first half was one of the most dominating performances I’ve ever been a part of. We were good all over the field.”

The Americans are 25-1-7 in home qualifiers since May 1985, their only defeat a 3-2 loss to Honduras in September 2001, and have outscored opponents 21-0 on U.S. soil since 2004. They’re also 9-0-2 in World Cup qualifying against T&T.

Though the Americans came in with a four-game winning streak, their offense has been patchy and they eked out 1-0 victories in each of the prior three games — all on the road.

No such problems against T&T, as the Americans got two quick goals in the first 18 minutes.

“That wasn’t important. The most important thing was to win,” Dempsey insisted. “Whether we scored one goal or five, a win is a win.”

DaMarcus Beasley earned the Americans a free kick in the ninth minute when he was tripped up as he sprinted down the left sideline. Second before Carlos Edwards appealed for a definite hand ball offence but Jamaican referee Courtney Campbell was having none of it and Edwards tracked back to commit the foul.  Donovan lofted the kick over the scrum in front of the goal and Marvin Phillip had no chance as Bradley flicked the ball into the goal with the right side of his foot.

Donovan pumped his fist when he saw the ball go in, and the rest of the Americans mobbed Beasley. It was Bradley’s third international goal, and second this year.

Nine minutes later, the Americans doubled their lead. Dempsey had the ball on the right side and fed Beasley on a give-and-go. There were four defenders in front of him, but they were lined up flat, and Beasley threaded the ball on a perfect pass to Dempsey, who put it in the far side of the net.

It was the fourth goal in as many games for Dempsey. He had two at home against Barbados, and also scored at Cuba. He did not play when the Americans traveled to Barbados.

“Their defense wasn’t comfortable coming in with (Beasley and Dempsey),” Donovan said. “And if they did come, our outside backs did a good job of getting around them and making it difficult. Time after time, we found little seams, we could turn plays and be dangerous almost every time we had the ball.”

After managing just one shot in the first 45 minutes, the Soca Warriors got much more aggressive in the second half and managed to create a few chances on corner kicks. Steve Cherundolo and Carlos Bocanegra cleared out two, and Oguchi Onyewu knocked another shot to safety just outside the goal.

But the Americans effectively ended the game in the 57th minute. Akile Edwards flipped Cherundolo into the air, drawing a yellow card and giving the United States a free kick. Beasley took it, and Onyewu headed it back toward the goal, only to have Phillip get his hands on it as they collided.

The rebound caromed straight to Ching, though, who was all alone in front of the goal and headed the ball into the net.

“Getting that third goal killed the game,” Donovan said. “They didn’t want to get embarrassed, so three goals is enough.”

The Soca Warriors’ thought they’d avoided the shutout in the 60th minute, when Glenn took a hard shot from just outside the box. American goalkeeper Tim Howard dove to his left and punched the ball away and second-half substitute Anthony Wolfe collected it and quickly put it into the open goal.

Referees quickly whistled it off, and replays showed he was, indeed offsides.

“We’ve not had a game like that in a while,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. “We had a few last year, but so far this year, that’s not the game we’ve been in. So it’s good to get things going in the right way.”

In Group 3 on Wednesday, Costa Rica claimed their third win in as many matches with a 3-1 victory over Haiti in Port-au-Prince.

El Salvador stayed in touch with the Group 3 leaders with a 2-0 victory over Surinam in Paramaribo.

Shawn Martin opened the scoring for El Salvador in the opening minute, and Marlon Felter's own goal spelled the end for the hosts as the 2-0 score stood through the final whistle. Mexico won 2-1 at home to Canada and Honduras also won 2-0 at home to Jamaica.

Team Lineups:


T&T: 1-Marvin Phillip; 3-Akile Edwards, 5-Keyeno Thomas, 9-Makan Hislop, 8-Cyd Gray; 17-Keon Daniel, 4-Osei Telesford, 2-Clyde Leon, 7-Carlos Edwards; 12-Densil Theobald (14-Anthony Wolfe, 46), 13-Cornell Glenn
Subs Not Used: 18-Jan-Michael Williams, 6-Dennis Lawrence, 10-Andre Toussaint, 11-Jason Scotland, 15-Kerry Baptiste, 16-Julius James
Head Coach: Francisco Maturana

USA: 1-Tim Howard; 15-Heath Pearce, 3-Carlos Bocanegra-capt., 5-Oguchi Onyewu, 6-Steve Cherundolo; 17-DaMarcus Beasley, 12-Michael Bradley (4-Rico Clark, 67), 16-Sacha Kljestan, 8-Clint Dempsey (7-Eddie Lewis, 78); 10-Landon Donovan, 11-Brian Ching (9-Eddie Johnson, 67)
Subs Not Used: 18-Brad Guzan, 2-Frankie Hejduk, 13-Maurice Edu, 14-Danny Califf
Head Coach: Bob Bradley

Stats Summary: USA / TRI
Shots 11 / 6
Shots on Goal 6 / 2
Saves 1 / 3
Corner Kicks 4 / 5
Fouls 9 / 12
Offside 9 / 1

Misconduct Summary:
TRI – Akile Edwards (caution) 57th minute
USA – Steve Cherundolo (caution) 59.
TRI – Clyde Leon (caution) 59.

[PIMP]

People in all likelihood Maturana will still be at the helm come our next qualifier against Guatemala..
We have to put this defeat and poor performance behind us and look forward and start planning....
9 points are still up for grabs and in all likelihood 10points should be enough to get us through...

My team for the next match would be

Williams, Cyd, Thomas, Lawrence, A.John, Carlos, Birchall, Yorke, Daniel, Glen, Roberts.

I believe we will have to win either away to Guatemala or at home to the US. Given the two scenarios I would say a win against Guatemala would be the better bet.

Come on people I want Maturana to 'ride out' too but we are still in it....BE POSITIVE!!!!

[D.H.W]

People in all likelihood Maturana will still be at the helm come our next qualifier against Guatemala..
We have to put this defeat and poor performance behind us and look forward and start planning....
9 points are still up for grabs and in all likelihood 10points should be enough to get us through...

My team for the next match would be

Williams, Cyd, Thomas, Lawrence, A.John, Carlos, Birchall, Yorke, Daniel, Glen, Roberts.

I believe we will have to win either away to Guatemala or at home to the US. Given the two scenarios I would say a win against Guatemala would be the better bet.

Come on people I want Maturana to 'ride out' too but we are still in it....BE POSITIVE!!!!

the problem is, if he going to pick the team you put there, yuh know the man unpredictable aready 

[Trini _2026]

We need to beat Guatemala hands down no draw plain and simple... and clobber Cuba to improve our goal average

[Jah Gol]

TV6 News
Sports coming up just now.

[E-man]

cnc3 sports now too

[D.H.W]

links

cnc3

http://www.jumptv.com/en/channel/cnc3/

c

http://www.ctntworld.com/livestream/index.html

[D.H.W]

Lawrence look disgusted and sad and vex

[D.H.W]

lawl this man is a punk yes stueps. Anyway he say the team that win in Guatemala going through

[E-man]

maturana says whoever wins next match likely going through (T&T v Guat) - He's not thinking about next US match, but next game in Guatemala.
Clayton Morris: doesn't understand why experimenting is still going on, why Tallest was benched. Guatemala is now in good position.

[Trini _2026]

Lord simones is in brazil already

[Babalawo]

stueps. so no firing?

[WestCoast]

stueps. so no firing?

men real tusty fa THE decision
TTFF ya stickin

[just cool]

I need to hear something , ah press conferance an apology and interview some assurance, some fackinthing!!

[Agent Jack Bauer]

maybe ah drink too much b4 d game because Carlos was pulling stones from my vantage point in d stadium......bad passes......chupid runs on d inside....i relly eh see no difference to show he is a foreign pro......and fuh d record I am a fan of his.....if is any consolation he looked fit.

[injunchile]

Pim- I think this is the best team on paper. however I believe he will play Hyland before
Birchill. The dentist stubborn and I would like him to justify how he can bring Scotland for two games and not play the man. Plus The back line started to gell and he leave out Lawrence.

[Brownsugar]

I need to hear something , ah press conferance an apology and interview some assurance, some fackinthing!!

Yuh did get one after Bermuda??  yuh expect to get one now??....steups....

On another note,  thank God mih cable eh wukking....ah eh have to see de shit two nights in ah row...

[D.H.W]

stueps. so no firing?

men real tusty fa THE decision
TTFF ya stickin

i tusty too we 

[just cool]

I need to hear something , ah press conferance an apology and interview some assurance, some fackinthing!!

Yuh did get one after Bermuda??  yuh expect to get one now??....steups....

On another note,  thank God mih cable eh wukking....ah eh have to see de shit two nights in ah row...

YES we got one after bermuda !! the coach oplogized and took full responsibility for the loss. another would be nice, with the same results of course.

[WestCoast]

I need to hear something , ah press conferance an apology and interview some assurance, some fackinthing!!

Yuh did get one after Bermuda??  yuh expect to get one now??....steups....
On another note,  thank God mih cable eh wukking....ah eh have to see de shit two nights in ah row...

YES we got one after bermuda !! the coach oplogized and took full responsibility for the loss. another would be nice, with the same results of course.

Just Cool, this is a good point
but HOW many games followed by apologise are we required to accept before the HARD decision is made?
how many losses?
more importantly how many games with player combination Experiments are we supposed to suffer through
a WCQ game is not for experiments

Oh Gaum Jah Gol

[PIMP]

i don't understand though how our coaches are not held accountable for such poor performances...
this is a 'small nation' mentality...
if this was england, a serious review would have taken place for capello's job...
keane was right yes, when he pull yorke from the match...small nation mentality again..

[Brownsugar]

I need to hear something , ah press conferance an apology and interview some assurance, some fackinthing!!

Yuh did get one after Bermuda??  yuh expect to get one now??....steups....

On another note,  thank God mih cable eh wukking....ah eh have to see de shit two nights in ah row...

YES we got one after bermuda !! the coach oplogized and took full responsibility for the loss. another would be nice, with the same results of course.

Forgive mih.....yuh right.....but we get one for this one yet?? ah hear he say something but I too busy these past 24 hours to hear for mihself if an explanation for last night was forthcoming........we get some kinda explanation for why we still experimenting after de Bermuda fiasco??...*sigh* steups, I fed up yes.....

[STEUPS!!]

everybody else on d planet cud see d aspects dat wrong wid dis team except d ppl who in charge of it. we hadda be d most unlucky country dread. whenever tings seem like it goin nice in dis place somethin does always come an fork it up. steups

[AB.Trini]

In a perfect football world where the stars line up ( no pun intended) in our  universe. Who would have the most to prove?

1. All the players who were omitted and are invited back?

2. JW. for showing that he could still pull  a 'rabbit out of hat' If he kept the existing team and they won
3 The present coach, could still get he head out of  he arse if he included  experienced players and won.

4 All the players if they actually performed and played to a required level in spite of the coaching.

[vale]

To be honest, I think we all knew deep down that it was going to difficult to get a point or even three in the USA. However, why did our most experienced and best players did not start?

Dennis Lawrence and Jason Scotland?

Where is Stern John and Birchall?

If we played our hearts out and lost I could understand but we gave soft goals.

Come on man, we have three games to play, two being home, let's get things right and make the hex man.

The ball is in our court. Vibes it up!!!

[trinimuse]

   Good post Vale      But who fixing it   Pacho ?  *Steupsssssssss*

[elan]

People in all likelihood Maturana will still be at the helm come our next qualifier against Guatemala..
We have to put this defeat and poor performance behind us and look forward and start planning....
9 points are still up for grabs and in all likelihood 10points should be enough to get us through...

My team for the next match would be

Williams,Ince, Cyd, Thomas, Lawrence, A.John, Carlos, Birchall, Yorke, Daniel, Glen, Roberts.

I believe we will have to win either away to Guatemala or at home to the US. Given the two scenarios I would say a win against Guatemala would be the better bet.

Come on people I want Maturana to 'ride out' too but we are still in it....BE POSITIVE!!!!