With two wins on the trot, T&T's Under-20 men's team already have more than just a foot into the Concacaf's final round of 2015 World Cup qualifiers and the Derek King-coached team will need only a draw against Cuba tonight to book a spot in the final of the CFU U-20 Championships.
T&T will meet Cuba in the Group A decider from 7.15 pm, following a 5 pm meeting between Suriname and Cuba. T&T almost certainly secured a spot at next year's Concacaf Under-20 Championships (to be held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, from January 9-24), on Sunday night with a 4-0 win over Curacao, a second victory from as many matches. The win on Sunday came after Suriname stunned Cuba 1-0 to initiate an exciting battle to determine the other Group A qualifier for the Concacaf Championships.
The only way T&T will fail to qualify for the knockout stage (and the Concacaf Championship) is if Cuba defeats the host by a wide margin and Suriname also defeats Curacao by a wide margin.
Last evening the second two Group B matches took place with Dominican Republic meeting St Kitts, before Aruba clashed with Haiti. Aruba and Haiti won their opening round matches on Saturday, both by a one-goal difference. The Group A winner, which looks almost certain to be T&T, given its superior goal difference (considering a loss), will meet the winner of Group B in the final on Friday after the third-place playoff between the runners-up of the two groups. All four teams in the final and the third place playoff will be assured a place at the Concacaf Championships, along with Jamaica, which has qualified automatically as tournament host. The final and the playoff will both play at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
The same venue hosted an exciting match day on Sunday, with host team, T&T turning up the tempo following a more gritty win over Suriname.
T&T settled in quicker against Curacao than against Suriname, and Kadeem Corbin, who had been a livewire in the previous match finally got his personal reward with a brace. He scored on either side of the half, starting with a penalty kick a minute before the break and his second on the hour-mark. Jabari Mitchell, who scored the winning goal coming on as a substitute two days prior, scored the first goal in the 32nd minute and the Aikim Andrews, the last in the 83rd minute to round off a solid display. Mitchell and Andrews against showed their worth as they made the starting line-up, along with Levi Garcia, who missed the opening match because of a slight strain in his hamstring.
In the opening match, Orveo Faerber, who scored against T&T on Friday, was again on target for Suriname with a winner in its somewhat surprising 1-0 result over Cuba. T&T's performance against Curacao earned them plaudits from the coach of the defeated team, Henry Caldera, who admitted that the host team was of a higher quality than the one which lost to Curacao two year ago.
"Last time we won our game against Trinidad and we put them out but this time it was much different," Caldera said.
"You can see the big difference in the team two years later."
He added, " Today (Sunday) they were very, very good and I think they are the best team in the tournament. I have seen all the other teams and, okay, yes, there is Haiti, which is also good and Cuba, but Trinidad I see has (the) best team now and you can see it in the way they played today against us."
King, meanwhile, gave credit to the players, who visibly improved from the opening match, albeit with a shuffle in the midfield.
"The guys played with a lot of determination and they did a lot of things right. We are very pleased to have made it through to the Concacaf stage and hopefully we can continue to build and get better from here."
Line-ups:
T&T: Johan Welch, Shannon Gomez, Martieon Watson, Jesus Perez, Maurice Ford, Neveal Hackshaw (Kion Joseph 78th), Akeem Humphrey, Aikim Andrews, Jabari Mitchell (Matthew Woo Ling 70th), Levi Garcia (Kishun Seecharan 72nd) ,Kadeem Corbin. Unused substitutes: Javon Sample, Akeem Garcia, Andre Fortune, Josiah Trimmingham, Nicholas Dillon. Coach: Derek King
Cura�ao: Zeus De La Paz, Richelo Fecunda, Andrew Stokkel (Jahir Valerius 46th), Luivienno Statia, Gerffert Koster, Mischa Boelens, Jean-Pierre Ascension, Lliandro Martis, Michael Maria (captain), Shaquelle Clements, Jersylee Riley (Diquan Myers 71st). Unused substitutes: Juricmar Arnhem, Bryan Bakboord, Urlyson Hamen, Gleymian Streden, Shurwendley Vicento, Cedricson Antonio, Isai Marselia. Coach: Henry Caldera.
Results:
Sunday - Group A
T&T 4 (Jabari Mitchell 32rd, Kadeem Corbin 44th pen, 60th Aikim Andrews 83rd) v Curacao 0
Suriname 1 (Orveo Faerber 45th) v Cuba 0
Standings:
Group A
Teams Pld W D L F A Pts
T&T 2 2 0 0 6 1 6
Suriname 2 1 0 1 2 2 3
Cuba 2 1 0 1 1 1 3
Curacao 2 0 0 2 0 5 0