TTFA Youth Invitational ends on losing note for hosts
T&T scored first but it was the same result on a different day as Mexico finished off the TT Football Association Youth Invitational Tournament with a 4-1 victory over the home team, at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Balmain, Couva, on Sunday.
The T&T Under-15 team faced their final test against Mexico,who beat Venezuela 2-0 on Wednesday and drew 1-1 with Panama on Friday, in the third and final day of the tournament.
It was actually T&T who would open the scoring early as Molik Khan scored for the second time this tournament after a deflection from a free kick.
He managed to get to the loose ball before Mexican ‘keeper José Tellez and knocked it in for the game’s opening goal in the sixth minute.
Mexico would respond shortly after in the 16th minute. After a corner, David Cedillo found André in acres of space on the right hand side.
He fired a cross to Jésus Moreno, who attempted a bicycle kick toward T&T’s goal. He didn’t make full contact, but it managed to find its way to Alejandro Alcalá for Mexico to draw level.
Both sides would have their opportunities but the first half ended with the scores level.
The second period was dominated by Mexico in terms of possessions and scoring opportunities and the deadlock was broken in the 75th minute.
Mexican substitute Raúl Chávez received a pass on the break into the right side of the penalty area and delivered a backheel pass to an incoming Javier Guerrero to give the Mexicans their second goal of the evening.
Chávez wasn’t done serving the table, however. Another counter attack saw the wide player dribble into the penalty area on the left side this time and put it on a platter for Miguel Carreón for Mexico’s third goal in the 86th minute.
Mexico’s final goal came with a bit of role reversal. This time it was Guerrero providing a penetrating pass to Chávez to slot it past Lazarus for their fourth and final goal of the tournament.
In the earlier game, Venezuela and Panama played to a scoreless draw after 90 minutes. Both teams finished the tournament with a win against T&T, a loss against Mexico and a draw.
After the match, T&T head coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier spoke to the media regarding their opponent Mexico and the tough test the T&T Under-15s were up against.
“I spoke to the Mexican manager. These guys (Mexican U15 players) play ten months of football, more than even our senior men locally. They are professionals. Their schedule is the same as the senior professionals. Their fixtures is the same as well. If the senior players playing in the evening or night, they play in the morning...Ten months is a lot, and that’s why these boys are so good at a young age...They play the game very mature for their age.”
Despite the result,Charles-Fevrier was still pleased with the team’s performance and their mentality against Mexico.
“I was very pleased that our players – for the first 75 minutes – were always in the game. We created chances in the game that we missed. We had a more professional mentality today in terms of the way we handled ourselves on the playing field – more serious, more professional.”
T&T’s Under-15 team will play a friendly against Venezuela today and this match will also be used as preparation for the Concacaf U15 Boys Tournament in the United States,which starts August 4.
(Team)
Trinidad and Tobago (4-1-4-1): 1.Kanye Lazarus (GK); 2.Christian Bailey, 4.Jaron Pascall, 6.Jaheim Marshall (captain), 3.Dawn St Rose; 13.Kassidy Davidson (16.Caleb Borneo 84); 10.Nathaniel James, 8.Molik Khan, 19.Isaiah Thompson (14.Jovonn Gomes 79), 17.Jaheim Faustin (15.Dantaye Gilbert 79); 9.Ja-Shawn Thomas (7.Abdul-Quddoos Hypolite 75).
Unused substitutes: 18.Triston Edwards (GK), 5.Tyrik Trotman, 12.Tristan Stafford,
Coach: Stuart Charles-Fevrier
TTFA Youth Invitational
Trinidad and Tobago 1 (Molik Khan 6), Mexico 4 (Alejandro Alcalá 16, Javier Guerrero 74, Miguel Carreón 85, Raul Chavez 88)
RELATED NEWS
Mexico tops TTFA Youth Invitational.
TTFA Media.
Trinidad and Tobago completed their three-match campaign in the 2019 TTFA Youth Invitational with a 4-1 defeat to eventual tournament winners Mexico at the Ato Boldon Stadium on Sunday night.
T&T started brightly as the Stuart Charles-Fevrier coached team tried to make up some lost ground after opening losses to Panama and Venezuela. They would open the scoring in the 6th minute as Molik Khan scored for the second time in the series pouncing on low ball which eluded the Mexican defense from a left sided free kick and he made no mistake hitting home from inside the penalty area.
Mexico would respond shortly after in the 16th minute. After a corner, David Cedillo found André in acres of space on the right hand side.
He fired a cross to Jésus Moreno, who attempted a bicycle kick toward T&T’s goal. He didn’t make full contact, but it managed to find its way to Alejandro Alcalá for Mexico to draw level.
Jaheim Faustin went close with a shot that missed the upright in the 20th and Nathaniel James forced the Mexican custodian Jose Eulogio to save four minutes later.
Both sides would have their opportunities but the first half ended with the scores level.
T&T stayed in the match and should have done better with further scoring opportunities in the second half. Three minutes in Ja-shwn Thomas sent his effort wide of the left post after being sent through to the dismay of the home fans.
But Mexico kept playing and Miguel Avalos saw his header crash off the upright on 51 minutes.
Mexican substitute Raúl Chávez then received a pass on the break into the right side of the penalty area and delivered a backheel pass to an incoming Javier Guerrero to give the Mexicans their second goal of the evening.
Chávez wasn’t done serving the table, however. Another counter attack saw the wide player dribble into the penalty area on the left side this time and put it on a platter for Miguel Carreón for Mexico’s third goal in the 86th minute as T&T faded.
Mexico’s final goal came with a bit of role reversal. This time it was Guerrero providing a penetrating pass to Chávez to slot it past Lazarus for their fourth and final goal of the tournament.
In the earlier game, Venezuela and Panama played to a scoreless draw after 90 minutes.
Post-Match Comments
Stuart Charles Fevrier
“To match Mexico for 70 minutes, I think is very, very good. The boys showed a lot of heart, a lot of fight.
“In Mexico, school is for education. If you don’t want to play for the school, it’s no problem. So that’s why most of them are attached to a club. They go to school and then after school they play for the club, so they are growing up as professionals. It’s a culture.”
When you watch the football tonight, for Under-15s I think the level was high, the quality was high. You could see those players knew what they were doing, they know the game, and that is why I give the players a lot of credit because we matched them tactically and we matched them in mentality. But in the last 15 minutes, you could see we got tired, and they were still going.
“You could see they were still going because it is normal for them because it’s 10 months of football for them. They already have a professional mentality, it’s in them. Our player still playing College football, they playing for this academy here, they playing for this club here, they playing for all different clubs, they playing all about. These players play for professional clubs, that’s their club, that’s the club that developing them, when they reach adulthood, if they can’t make it, another pro club will take them.
Jaheim Marshall – T&T captain
“This tournament was really helpful to the team. As a team, we needed to know where we are and where we needed to be before we go to the [Concacaf] tournament.At this point, the most we can do is work toward the future, keep our heads up and keep pushing to get the result we want in the future.
Nathaniel James – T&T midfielder
“I knew we could’ve competed with them in these games. I think their professionalism was too much for us to handle in the closing stages of the match. They were fitter than us, and more experienced. We really want to improve on our defending.
Juan Carlos Ortega – Mexico head coach
“We started losing the match, but we managed to overcome. It was a very good match for us. We respect T&T a lot. They were a good team and a good driver for us. We had to be very calm because sometimes when you’re not getting your way, you become desperate.
Match Highlights - T&T 1 vs Mexico 4 Under 15 Boys Youth Invitational
Charles-Fevrier wants more competition for U-15s.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).
T&T UNDER-15 men’s football team coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier is calling for more competition for his squad, as they turn their attention towards the Concacaf Under-15 Championship, which will take place at the IMG Centre, Bradenton, Florida, United States from August 4-12.
Charles-Fevrier was speaking during the post-game media conference, on Sunday night, after his team suffered a 4-1 licking by Mexico in the final round-robin match of the TTFA (TT Football Association) Youth Invitational Tournament.
The T&T team were beaten 5-4 by Panama at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva on Wednesday, followed by a 4-0 spanking by the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Friday and Sunday’s defeat at Couva.
According to Charles-Fevrier, “If you watched (Sunday’s) game, you’ll see you need quality to play that type of football. I’ll like to keep this programme going. If the Association wants somebody else, that’s not a problem. I hope I can stay with them.
“What we need now is to play more Central American and North American teams instead of Caribbean teams,” he said. “It’s not that we cannot play Caribbean teams, but I believe we need to focus a lot more on the Central American and North American teams. If we have to qualify for any major competition, these are the teams we have to beat.”
Charles-Fevrier, who is also the men’s team assistant coach and W Connection coach, acknowledged, “Everybody has their opinion but I’m a football man. I don’t want to fight with (anybody).
“We (can) sit down, have a conversation and see what’s best for T&T football. It’s difficult now to get any meaningful thing going with football in this country.”
However, both Charles-Fevrier and the TTFA have been criticised on Facebook, for the team’s results, particularly since the T&T squad have been together since 2017 while their three Central American opponents were fielding teams that were all assembled this year.
TTFA board member and outspoken critic Keith Look Loy wrote, “The marketing hook was ‘the future is now’. The public was sold an illusion about how good the (TTFA) Elite Programme was, how well the boys played in beating Intercol players.
“Two years have been spent to produce what we have witnessed,” he continued. “Our boys were beaten and outclassed by teams formed weeks ago.
“Attention must be paid to the selection of players into this programme, and to the selection of staff,” Look Loy noted.
“The excuses will flow. But the public has long made sense out of the nonsense and concluded on it.” Player agent Dion Sosa mentioned, “I have been saying for years, how can we say we want an elite programme when we don’t have the elite development coaches in the game, on the staff or administration.”
Sosa called for the inclusion of Jean Lillywhite, Anthony “Dada” Wickham, Anthony Sherwood and Michael Grayson on the national youth teams’ set-up.
And former World Cup referee Ramesh Ramdhan, directing his criticism towards Charles-Fevrier, wrote, “Having these kids for two years, you are just contented to develop them from constant defeats. Heaven help us.”
Poor football culture hampering the sport.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).
A major cultural difference in the sport of football has been the main spot of bother for national under-15 football coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier ahead of the coming CONCACAF Championship next month.
Charles-Fevrier lads finished the T&T Football Association Youth Invitational Tournament at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva on Sunday, without a victory as the junior Soca Warriors were thrashed 4-1 by CONCACAF giants Mexico at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.
The T&T boys, in only their first outing to the public, took the lead from a well-taken goal by Molik Khan in the 6th minute, and they had numerous opportunities to at to their tally, but chances went a-begging. However, the visitors equalized in the 16th and got three other goals from Javier Barrera in the 75th, Miguel Carreon in the 86th and a 90th-minute item to seal the win and bring the curtains down on the tournament.
Afterwards, Mexico's Gael Garcia was named the best midfielder and Venezuela's Klinsmann Yesdis Gomez was adjudged the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP). However, Panama stormed home with the lion's share of the awards, copping the best goalkeeper prize- Vicente Obando, the best defender award- Omar Alba Burrowes and the Golden Boot trophy- Reymundo Williams Arauz.
Charles-Fevrier told the media in spite of the high level displayed in the tournament, his team was able to match their opposition. "When you watch the football tonight, for Under-15s I think the level was high, the quality was high. You could see those players knew what they were doing, they know the game, and that is why I give the players a lot of credit because we matched them tactically and we matched them in mentality. But in the last 15 minutes, you could see we got tired, and they were still going," Charles- Fevrier said.
"You could see they were still going because it is normal for them because it's 10 months of football for them. They already have a professional mentality, it's in them. Our player still playing College football, they playing for this academy here, they playing for this club here, they playing for all different clubs, they playing all about. These players play for professional clubs, that's their club, that's the club that developing them, when they reach adulthood, if they can't make it, another pro club will take them," Fevrier explained.
He noted, I was told that in Mexico, school is for education and if you do not want to play football for the school is not a problem, that is why most of them are attached to a club.
The T&T under-15s will spring into action again today in a practice match with their Venezuelan counterparts, from 4:30 pm at the Couva venue.