T&T Soca Warriors made one of their most impressive starts to the 2015 Concacaf Gold Cup in its 24-year history as they whipped Guatemala 3-1 in their Group C curtain raiser at Soldier Field Stadium, Ilinois Chicago on Thursday night.
An opening 11th minute goal by Belgian-based defender Sheldon Bateau was the 700th goal of the Gold Cup since its inception and it paved the way for T&T's win on the evening.
The US-based duo of Cordell Cato and Joevin Jones also netted as the trio wrote their name on the history cards in the first half in the 250th game of the Gold Cup.
It was the dream start the Soca Warriors coach Stephen Hart desired and one that showed its attacking potential, capable of stunning opposing teams on a good day.
Veteran Guatemalan striker Carlos Ruiz put a little panic into Soca Warriors with well struck 61st minute goal as the Central Americans came out with more energy in the second half, forcing T&T into their own half for long periods.
But the day belonged to the Kenwyne Jones-skippered T&T as they seized control of the match which they entered with 4-3-3 formation that left Guatemala stunned inside 25 minutes and sent the small number of T&T supporters in the stadium into a frenzy.
T&T entered the clash against the Central Americans, losers of their last five international matches and without a goal in 450 minutes dating back to the Caribbean Cup Finals in November.
However, that was all put to rest as early as the 11th minute when Khaleem Hyland left side corner was well connected with by a lunging Bateau as the ball went in off the far post for a 1-0 ahead.
It was the first senior team goal for Bateau in national colours and San Jose Earthquake speedy winger Cato joined him as a first time scorer four minutes later when he capitalised on some untidy defending off a header by Jones, outmuscled Elias Vasquez and rounded goalkeeper Ricardo Jerez before slotting into an open net.
Ten minutes later and T&T was in dream world as Chicago Fire defender Joevin Jones then put through Cato on the left side of the 18-yard box.
Goalkeeper Jerez, was alert to the play and raced off his line to deny Cato's run, however the ball fell into the path of Jones who clinically hit home with his left foot into the bottom for a comfortable 3-0, and its best ever start in a Gold Cup encounter.
It could have been even better for T&T before the half, but Ataulla Guerra's right footed shot flashed just wide of the right post white captain Jones saw his low effort blocked by a defender with Jerez in no man's land.
On the resumption, Guatemala, which advanced in Concacaf's World Cup qualifying with a 1-0 aggregate win over Bermuda in June, to end a seven match winless streak, came out with intentions of pulling an early goal back but failed to do so immediately.
T&T goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams did have to make some
timely stops to keep them at bay while coach Hart freshened up things a bit in midfield by introducing Willis Plaza (62nd), Andre Boucaud (75th) and Lester Peltier (79th) for Guerra, Hyland and Joevin Jones respectively.
The quartet of Hyland, Daneil Cyrus, Radanfah Abu Bakr and Andre Boucaud while Guatemalan Ruiz was fortunate not to receive marching orders for an elbow offence and then a stamp on Williams near the end.
Overall, the job was well orchestrated and T&T deserved its three points.
It was only the second time T&T came away with a win in its opening match, the first being a 3-1 win over Honduras in 1998.
T&T has now scored 31 goals in all its Gold Cup matches dating back to 1991 while its s only previous win over Guatemala in the tournament was a 4-2 win in 2000 when goals by Russell Latapy, Dwight Yorke, David Nakhid and Arnold Dwarika sent T&T through to the quarter-final stage.
"I thought in the first half we controlled the game. We pressed well and we recovered the ball in good areas of the field. We got the goals and we kept possession of the ball well and made Guatemala chased which they were uncomfortable with," Hart said after the win.
Speaking after the win Hart said his team achieved what it set out to do and will now look ahead to its second match against Cuba on Sunday.
The T&T coach said, "We came here looking to get a good start and we did just that. It's a good first win but we still have two games to go in this group and we must take care of business first against Cuba on Sunday before we could feel satisfied.
Overall though, we were able to get the three points which was our objective coming into this match," he added.
"Hopefully we can play more consistently like we played the first half. Guatemala didn't handle the press from us very well in the first fifteen to twenty minutes. They panicked a little bit. But they (Guatemala) have good quality, good footballers with some experience upfront and the second half showed that they could be a completely different team," Hart concluded.
Despite the win, T&T is second on the table behind Mexico which trounced Cuba 6-0 on a hat-trick byb Oribe Peralta in the second game.
The Cubans went into the match with only 16 players, missing six players due to visa issues and one player who defected this week while head coach Raul Gonzalez was also awaiting a US visa.
Yesterday, T&T had an early morning session in Chicago before heading off to Phoenix on a Concacaf chartered flight yesterday as well ahead of tomorrow's second fixture with Cuba.
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Thursday's Concacaf Gold Cup results:
Group C:
T&T 3 (Sheldon Bateau 11th, Cordell Cato 15th, Joevin Jones 25th) vs Guatemala 1 (Carlos Ruiz 62nd)
Mexico 6 (Oribe Peralta 17th, 37th, 62nd, Carlos Vela 22nd, Andres Guardado 44th, Giovani dos Santos 75th) vs Cuba 0
Teams:
T&T: 21.Jan-Michael Williams (GK), 2.Aubrey David, .Joevin Jones (23.Lester Peltier 79'), 4.Sheldon Bateau, 5.Daneil Cyrus, 6.Radanfah Abu Bakr, 8.Khaleem Hyland (14.Andre Boucaud 75'), 19.Kevan George, 311.Ataulla Guerra (10.Willis Plaza 62'), 9.Kenwyne Jones, 13.Cordell Cato.
Unused Substitutes- 1.Marvin Phillip (GK), 22.Adrian Foncette (GK), 7.Jonathan Glenn, 12.Kadeem Corbin, 15.Dwane James, 16.Rundell Winchester, 17.Mekeil Williams, 18.Yohance Marshall, 20.Keron Cummings,
Head Coach: Stephen Hart
Guatemala : 21.Ricardo Jerez (GK); 3.Elias Vasquez, 4.Wilson Lalin, 5.Moises Hernandez; 14.Kendel Herrarte (9.Edgar Chinchilla, 69'), 23.Jorge Aparicio, 8.Jonathan Marquez (22.Minor Lopez, 46'), 18.Stefano Cincotta (6.Carlos Mejia, 46'); 16.Marco Papa, 20.Carlos Ruiz (captain), 10.Jose Contreras.
Unused Substitutes -1.Victor Ayala (GK), 12.Paulo Motta (GK), 2.Ruben Morales, 7.Jairo Arreola, 11.Gerardo Arias, 13.Carlos Castrillo, 15.Denis Lopez, 17.Brandon De Leon, 19.Carlos Figueroa.
Head Coach - Ivan Sopegno
Referee: Jhon Pitti (Panama)