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Everald "Gally" Cummings, coach of the 1989 "Strike Squad" which came within a point of taking Trinidad and Tobago to the 1990 World Cup, looked at the opening minutes of T&T's 2010 World Cup qualifier against El Salvador on Wednesday night.

And after seeing striker Stern John's early effort turned wide and then Carlos Edwards' seventh minute goal, he thought it was easy pickings to beat El Salvador. So much so, Cummings then fell asleep, missing captain Dwight Yorke's penalty which gave Trinidad and Tobago a 2-0 lead at half-time.

"To wake up this morning and hear that the game ended two-all after we were leading by two goals was like a nightmare," Cummings declared.

"Normally, an away draw is good, but that they came back from that position is not too nice."

Cumming partly blamed a cultural lethargy for the Soca Warriors' demise, with El Salvador scoring two goals in the final 11 minutes to grab a draw. He said that once ahead, local teams have a tendency to become complacent and when under pressure usually retreat too deep and allow the opponent too much time to play.

However, his main concern is the loss of skipper Yorke, the veteran former Manchester United frontman who picked up his second yellow card in arguing with the Mexican referee after El Salvador equalised and will miss T&T's next qualifier, at home against Honduras on March 28.

"That Dwight Yorke got a red card is to me more of a blow than losing two goals, because Dwight is about three players in one. His loss will be hugely felt against Honduras unless we make a proper adjustment," said Cummings.

After reading the reports coming out of the pre-match Argentina camp, former national defender Brian Williams expected to see a more vibrant and energetic team against El Salvador. Instead, he found that many of the national players looked jaded and the energy level within the team appeared low, especially at the end.

"Playing away from home and getting a draw is a good result at any level. But with two goals up and 15 minutes to go the result came like a loss. We gave up the game," Williams declared.

"I don't think there is any discipline when it comes to the dead ball situation like the free-kicks and penalties. It looks like a case of giving anybody a try. Defensively, we were also all over the place.

"With all due respect to Dwight (Yorke), he looked out of the game and the legs of the older players looked in question. But with nine games to go I think we have time to get the right mix and make the improvements we need," Williams added.

Likewise, St Lucian Stuart Charles Fevrier, a former national coach, felt the Warriors still needed some time to get their rhythm and cohesion together.

He felt the ball coordination definitely needed to improve and also questioned the lack of discipline within the team.

"To me it seems like a loss because we had three points and lost two," Fevrier said. "We need to maintain discipline within the team and to clearly define who are the free-kick and penalty-takers. From what I see, no one is in charge. We need to pay attention to set plays because on the last goal, the ball went through the wall."

And Dexter Skeene, a former national player and T&T Pro League CEO, felt the technical staff need to work on several team defects.

Skeene suggested Trinidad and Tobago would not get away with them against better teams than El Salvador.

"I thought we were about to make a brilliant start to the final round, but I guess it was not meant to be. But there are positives-Stern was the most mobile I had seen him in years...and Kenywne Jones can only improve. Definitely, we need some work, but we created a lot of chances, which is good."