Levi confirms star billing as T&T U-20s seize Caribbean Cup final spot
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868.com)
Trinidad and Tobago will contest its second regional football final in a month on Friday evening when the young “Soca Warriors” line up in the 2014 Under-20 Caribbean Championship finale from 7.15 pm at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.
Almost certainly, the Warriors’ final dance partner will be Haiti, who leads Group B at present, and there is a high possibility of an entertaining, swashbuckling close to the under-20 competition.
On a cool, damp Tuesday evening, there was little sparkle at the Hasely Crawford, though, as the Warriors eventually clawed their way back to a 1-1 draw against Cuba in the final Group A fixture.
Trinidad and Tobago had already booked one of four automatic CFU qualifying spots for the 2015 Under-20 CONCACAF Championships before kick off—thanks to a surprise 3-2 win for Curaçao over Suriname—while Cuba only needed a point to join the Warriors in the next phase. The CONCACAF tournament will be held in Montego Bay, Jamaica next January and the four top teams there will play at the New Zealand 2015 Under-20 World Cup.
Yesterday, under-20 coach Derek King took the chance to give a few more players some tournament exposure and, in the end, he and Cuba coach William Bennett might have been satisfied with how things turned out.
“We took a look at a couple of guys and the first half was a bit scrappy,” said King, in the post-game press conference. “... The second half was much better (and) Cuba didn’t get a single shot on goal.”
First half? Not so good. Second half? Better.
It has been a recurring theme in Trinidad and Tobago’s post-game press conferences so far.
Undoubtedly, this is a talented bunch of teenaged players. But, just as certainly, they are playing nowhere near to the peak of their powers.
The Warriors, for all their endeavour and individual ability, often lacked collective play, passing triangles and the composure and know-how to switch points of attack. Not altogether surprising for a team that held its first training session in July and got its first live-in camp a week before the opening CFU match.
Yet, Cuba was clearly petrified at what the Warriors were capable of last night.
At kick off, Bennett employed a five-man defence with a sweeper so deep that he was an arm’s length from his own penalty area, even when Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Johan Welch was in possession.
The reason for Bennett’s paranoia probably wears green boots and is just 16 years old. His name is Levi Garcia and he might be Trinidad and Tobago’s most gifted player since former Joe Public star Arnold Dwarika.
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