Ecuador edge T&T women to secure final World Cup spot.
By Ian Prescott (Express).
WARRIORS WEEP - It was a repeat of November 19, 1989.
A soft goal, scored in injury time by Monica Quinteros, gave Ecuador a 1-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago last night at a sold-out Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain, and the final spot in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup at the expense of the T&T Women Soca Warriors.
In the process, the female national squad sadly emulated their male counterparts of 25 years ago when, needing just a draw to qualify for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, the Trinidad and Tobago “Strike Squad” lost 1-0 to the United States.
And, once again, tears were shed at the stadium, with some of the players weeping as they left the field, their dream of representing Trinidad and Tobago in Canada next year being crushed by the visitors.
Dominating yesterday’s match for the most part, the host team paid the price for failing to put away a couple of good chances and the game was lost in the final minutes when Quinteros’s timely touch directed a free-kick past under-worked T&T keeper Kaimika Forbes, who raced erratically to meet the ball.
Hard-working US-born Liana Hinds still had a chance to rescue a draw for T&T, but hit wide in the dying seconds.
Attempting to qualify for its first-ever Women’s World Cup, the national team was coming off a goalless draw in the first leg in Ecuador and, once again, 90 minutes saw the teams without any goals...until the final gut-wrenching moment.
For much of the second half, T&T forced the action and looked like getting the victory.
Striker Kennya Cordner almost gave the home team the perfect start to the second session when putting Ahkeela Mollon’s cross onto the crossbar in the 48th minute.
The Women Warriors applied some pressure and some worries for the visitors without finding the lethal touch.
Cordner seemed to have found the breakthrough opportunity on the right in the 78th minute, but keeper Shirley Berruz brought off a good low save and later also pushed away another goal-bound Mariah Shade shot.
Earlier, Trinidad and Tobago controlled most of the first half, despite creating just the one clear chance, in the 19th minute, when Cordner headed wide Tasha St Louis’s cross from atop the six-yard box.
Ecuador chased shadows for much of the opening half, but could have scored themselves.
T&T defender Rhea Belgrave put in a last-gasp tackle to stop powerful striker Monica Quinteros racing to goal near the half-hour mark and goalkeeper Forbes also anticipated well when blocking an attempted overhead kick from Erika Vasquez just before the half ended.
In losing, the national women failed to follow the senior men, qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Pain again at Stadium
By Kern De Freitas (Express).
So close, yet so far.
Again T&T’s footballers finished the bridesmaids and missed out on World Cup qualification by a whisker.
A stoppage time winner by Ecuador against the run of play put a damper on what had been a great party up until then.
But in some ways, yesterday evening represented a renaissance for football in Trinidad and Tobago.
There were no parking spaces in Woodbrook, Wrightson Road or anywhere in the vicinity of Hasely Crawford Stadium, the venue for last night’s clash between Trinidad and Tobago and Ecuador.
The stadium’s interior was a sea of red, and—dare I say it?—most of the patrons were on time, with hundreds more stuck at the entry lanes trying to get in, a scene not unlike a line to Port of Spain’s Immigration Office headquarters, except with greater levels of success.
Scalpers were out in their numbers alongside flag vendors and myriad other interested parties to a sell-out crowd, a scene witnessed last perhaps when the English national team visited as part of T&T football’s centenary celebrations in 2008.
The difference? The Women Soca Warriors stood in the spotlight usually reserved for their male counterparts hoping their road led to World Cup history would end more like the men’s Germany 2005 journey rather than 1989’s Road to Italy.
The atmosphere, too, was one of genuine support.
This was the same team that played before next-to-empty arenas and went to training camp with their pockets just as void. The team that represented T&T with class on the Caribbean and Gold Cup stages with little backing, and without payment until Government’s recent intervention, took this country to the brink of qualification for its first women’s World Cup, and having ground out a 0-0 draw in tough Ecuador conditions, had come home to finish the job.
This time it was more than just the T&T Football Association (TTFA) marketing machinery that brought the crowd out. It was national pride. They sang the national anthem the way it should be sung, but rarely ever is. They cheered on the team with gusto and booed the opposition and at times even referee Esther Staubli of Switzerland.
And they had lots left for MX Prime’s vibrant half-time performance, whose hit “Soca Warriors” was a rallying cry for the T&T men in 2005.
The players fed off that energy on the field, which perhaps worked against them somewhat. They had many chances, near misses and nervy attempts in the final third of the field as they searched for the winner against a valiant but more conservative Ecuador side.
No moment was more exciting and frustrating than when Kennya Cordner, the little engine room of the T&T attack, hit the upright with Ecuadorean goalkeeper Shirley Berruz beaten on 77 minutes, one of three golden second half opportunities.
In the end, though, it was an error by goalkeeper Kimika Forbes that gave Ecuador their World Cup berth, as she misjudged a free kick and committed herself, giving Monica Quinteros a chance to slot home. It must have been heartbreaking for Forbes, a player who, before that incident, had been particularly solid.
It ended another dream for T&T, less than two weeks after T&T football marked its solemn 1989 anniversary on November 19.
It made it tough for the fans to enjoy Benjai’s closing act. Perhaps another MX Prime theme song specially penned for the Women Warriors might have made the difference.
Four teams will now represent CONCACAF at Saturday’s Women’s World Cup draw in Ottawa: Canada (host), United States (CONCACAF champion), Costa Rica (runner-up) and Mexico (third place).
Teams
Trinidad and Tobago: 1.Kimika Forbes; 8.Patrice Superville, 4.Rhea Belgrave, 5.Arin King, 14.Karyn Forbes; 9.Maylee Attin-Johnson (capt); 12.Ahkeela Mollon, 16.Brianna Ryce, 11.Janine Francois (7.Dernelle Mascall 80th), 19.Kennya Cordner; 10.Tasha St Louis (3.Mariah Shade 37th).
Unused substitutes: 17.Sandra Baron (GK), 2.Ayanna Russell, 6.Khadidra Debessette, 13.Anique Walker, 16.Jasmine Sampson, 18.Khadisha Debessette, 20.Lauryn Hutchinson.
Coach: Randy Waldrum.
Ecuador: 1.Shirley Berruz; 7.Ingrid Rodriguez, 3.Lorena Aguilar, 16.Ligia Moreira, 6.Angie Ponce; 13.Madeline Riera (19.Kerly Real 58th), 20.Andrea Pesantes, 5.Mayre Olivera, 8.Erika Vasquez; 10.Ambar Torres (18.Adriana Barre 80th); 14.Monica Quinteros (11.Elizabeth Caicedo 94th).
Unused substitutes: 4.Merly Zambrano, 9.Gianina Lattanzio, 12.Irene Tobar, 15.Palacios Mendoza, 17.Tamara Angulo.
Coach: Vanessa Aráuz.