Trinidad and Tobago’s National Under 17 team didn’t leave the National Stadium in Kingston with the desired result on Saturday evening but coach Anton Corneal and his boys would have taken with them some positives that could well inspire their outcome in the current qualifying quest for the Korea 2007 FIFA Under 17 World Championship.
Two second half goals score by Jorge Castro in the 71st minute and a penalty by Diego Brenes seven minutes later gave Costa Rica a hard fought 2-0 win, a result that their head coach Manuel Urena seemed extremely appreciative of after the 90 minutes.
Urena admitted in the post-match conference that his team was taken by surprise by the vibrant T&T outfit, particularly in the first half and knew that they had to lift their game by all means to secure a result. That they did but Corneal would have felt that at least a draw would have been a deserved outcome on the evening.
T&T arrived at the Stadium close to one and a half hours before kick off and met a relatively quiet venue with mostly matchday workers present. The Costa Rican team turned up moments earlier. Only then that the T&T contingent noticed that its dressing room air condition supply was out and workers quickly hustled to position two stand-fans in an attempt to ease the humidity. Same time, the Costa Rican, Canadian and Jamaican dressing rooms had their rooms already cooling by operating units. Corneal wondered why T&T was without the comfort but it was not enough to break the focus for the main event as his unit had been well conditioned leading up to the current phase of the competition.
He predicted a tightly contested battle in the opening 15 minutes and that was exactly what occurred, right up to the half. The on field heat by then seemed to be getting to the Costa Ricans but fortunately their maturity pulled them out of problems.
From as early as the third minute, after Aubrey Davis regained possession in his half, he sent a long ball down the left for Stephen Knox to latch on to and he out ran a couple defenders, forcing himself near the by line on the left before hitting over bar. It was an early wake up call for Costa Rica but they still made every attempt to play their natural game, pressuring high and taking control of the game with quick accurate passing and runs, mostly attacking down the left, as was noticed in their previous outings.
But T&T planned well and showed no signs of backing down, in most instances matching them stride for stride and forcing them to make errors.
Costa Rica had their first real attempt on goal in the 13th minute when David Guzman shot wide of the left post. Four minutes later, defender Akeem Adams, a standout at the back for T&T, made a vital intervention but the loose ball fell right in for Brenes who could only direct his effort over bar.
The first good look of Leston Paul brought some of the typically known Jamaican roar from the fans as he collected in the middle of Costa Rica’s half, faked one side, turned again and let loose with his left foot only to have the ball beat the crossbar on its way out.
The Mayaro-born midfielder would show good composure with the ball in the remaining minutes with touches and movement that brought more roars of anticipation from the fans on hand whenever he got hold of the ball with intentions of going forward. By then the crowd had grown to almost 2,000 with some sixty of them being T&T fans.
Between the 22nd and 25th minutes, Costa Rica had some good looks at the T&T goal, one a left side corner that went inches away from the far post and the second a Guzman drive that flashed wide of the upright.
Guzman was constantly getting space to run on the right, though on some occasions even the crowd seemed to agree that some of his runs should have been halted for offside. He had an effort from point blank range just before the half hour that was somehow skied over bar.
T&T were not to be outdone though and on 32 minutes, forward Daniel Cyrus opened up and turned his man on the right of the box before unleashing one which went inches wide of the left upright. That attempt brought belief back into the T&T side and they were beginning to control possession and forcing the Costa Ricans to look disorganize. It was exactly the type of game Corneal had advised them was possible in the pre-match talks.
Costa Rican introduced forward Urena at half time and it wasn’t too long before he out muscled his man on the right flank and centred for Brenes who could look on as his shot crashed off the crossbar.
The Central Americans, five time participants at the FIFA Under 17 World Championship, started the second half with more intensity and kept it until they surged ahead.
Eventually their first goal came when T&T was caught napping and flatfooted at the back as a defender headed backward onto a Costa Rican who seized the gift, lobbing the ball over an off the line Glenroy Samuel for a 1-0 scoreline. Samuel started in goal ahead of regular captain Jesse Fullerton, leaving Ryan O’Neil to wear the captain’s armband.
The goal appeared to have sunk T&T but not for long as Knox, equipped with pace and purpose in his runs, beat his man on the left before dragging a left footer wide of the far post.
A minute later, in the 77th, O’Neil tackled badly and brought Urena to the turf, leaving Brenes to convert the resulting penalty with ease.
The remaining minutes brought nothing for T&T and three points for the opposition leaving the junior “Soca Warriors” to regroup and come again for Monday’s affair with the United States while Canada will play Costa Rica.
In the second outing, a well organized Canadian team powered themselves to a 3-0 win over hosts Jamaica. Daniel Tannous stunned the Young Reggae Boyz in the sixth minute, followed by strikes from Jarek Whiteman in the 42nd and William Hyde in the 83rd.
T&T line up: - 21.Glenroy Samuel, 2.Aubrey Davis, 3.Ryan O’Neil (capt), 4.Sheldon Bateau, 5.Akeem Adams, 6.Leston Paul, 10.Stephen Knox, 11.Daniel Cyrus (19.Kevin Molino 66th) 14.Jean Luc Rochford, 15.Chike Sullivan, 18.Micah Lewis (9.Chad De Freitas 68th).
Subs not used: - 1.Jesse Fullerton, 7.Brenton Balbosa, 12.Robert Primus, 13.Stephen Chang, 16.Marcus Joseph, 20.Isaiah Ferguson.
Costa Rica line up: - 1.Leonel Moreira, 13.Erick Rojas, 3.Roy Smith (capt), 14.Bryan Oviedo, 4.Jordan Smith, 8.David Guzmán (12.Bruno Castro 66th), 5.Esteban Luna, 7.Diego Brenes (6.Miguel Brenes 77th), 19.Daniel Varela, 17.Josué Martínez (9.Marcos Ureña 46th), 10.Jorge Alejandro Castro.