An injury time strike (91st minute) became the match winner for Trinidad and Tobago against Guatemala 1-0 in a Group C encounter at Jarrett Park on Thursday afternoon.The match lone item was netted by W Connection midfielder Adan Noel as Trinidad and Tobago needed a victory to stay alive in the Qualifying Tournament of the 2011 FIFA Under 17 World Cup.The win means T&T are through to the quarter finals and will meet either Canada or Honduras next Wednesday depending on how the closing set of matches in Group C and D concludes today.
Noel's strike came somewhat against the run of play, driving a rebound from 23 meters after his free kick struck the Guatemalan wall.Guatemala, which had coach Gary Stempel expelled in the 30th minute, was reduced to 10 men immediately after the goal when keeper Johnny Navarro, who already had a yellow, was ejected by Barbadian referee Trevor Taylor apparently for dissent.Neither team generated much offensively at the start, with both sending passes awry.
Possession and chances improved in the second half, and with Guatemala's Luis Perez putting a left-footed shot over the crossbar.An increasing number of half chances followed, however, with Navarro tipping a speculative effort from T&T over the crossbar.T&T Head coach Shawn Cooper was elated at the end of the winning performance but warned that there was still a vital encounter coming up next Wednesday."The boys fulfilled my expectations more than they exceeded it," Cooper said.
"I told you before we got to Jamaica that we were working on the defensive part of the game and you also expressed some concern on our firepower up front and again I told you not to worry that we would get the goals when we needed it. I'm happy to see that the boys have not let us down today," Cooper added.As to how he now prepares for a quarter final clash against either Honduras or Canada, Cooper said : "Tonight we will have a deserved cool down and then sit and discuss our approach for the next few days. We will also sit and get the advice of our youth development officer Anton Corneal and plan our approach for the game. We have already looked at the Canadian team and they appear to very organized and we will also have a further look at Honduras."
Looking back at his team's build up for the tournament, the former Naparima College and W Connection coach said he was never concerned."The trip to Colombia paid dividends. We wanted to prepare against oppositions that would give us that feel of what the Central American teams would bring and I think that was a key. And then at home we decided to play against some of the clubs and some persons disagreed with that but at the end of the day it fitted in with our schedule and here we are today. We now have to take all of this into our next game which will determine whether we progress or not." Cooper dedicated the progress to the quarter finals to the fans back home.
"I personally would like to dedicate the win to the T&T public and I hope they continue to give us that support with their prayers and especially to all our families who are supporting us. We will try to bring it back home for them and give the country something to celebrate and be proud of," Cooper concluded.T&T finished its Group C play with four points from two games, three better than Jamaica and four ahead of Guatemala, which must beat the host today Saturday to advance.
Neither team generated much offensively at the start, with both sending passes awry.Possession and chances improved in the second half, and with Guatemala's Luis Perez putting a left-footed shot over the crossbar.An increasing number of half chances followed, however, with Navarro tipping a speculative effort from Trinidad over the crossbar.In the 74th minute, Albert Barrientos came close for Guatemala, which looked the more likely team to score.