Despite receiving the valuable point to put them through to the final round of the FIFA World Cup CONCACAF Qualifiers against Guatemala on Friday night, T&T coach Stephen Hart described the 'Soca Warriors' performance as sloppy.
The Warriors, in front their home fans at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo came from a goal behind to play to a 2-2 draw and received the vital point needed to take them into the final group of six teams that will go into the final round-robin play-off to determine the top three teams that will qualify to play in Russia 2018. The fourth-placed team will go into an inter-continental play-off.
At the post-match press conference afterwards Hart said his troops gave a sloppy display and were particularly lucky in the second half. "It appeared as though some of the players just didn't want the ball and when they got it they were getting rid of it quickly" Hart said.
Hart said he opted to bring on two attacking players–Levi Garcia and Keavan George which brought changes in the game, saying Garcia was able to off-set the Guatemalans which enabled them with a chance to kill off the Guatemalans but his team did not take the opportunity that was presented.
He pointed out a number of things were discussed before the game but the players just lacked urgency on the night. "We talked about the wide players not doing their defensive duties but biggest thing we spoke about was the lack of urgency" the Canadian coach explained, adding he was terribly disappointed in the visitors' opening goal which came from an over-lapping run down the right side to a cross in for their striker to tap in.
The coach said, "We spoke about that before and still we saw it happen.
The coach promised that he would seek to make some changes for their final match against the USA playing away in the United States, since he was aware that their positioning going into the final round could determine which team could be the Warriors next opponent.
He said, "We will approach the USA as any other match, to win. We need to play good, as it is important for us to send a message to ourselves, that we can deliver good performance."
Striker Kenwyne Jones, the T&T captain said it was a bitter-sweet night for his team, noting that although they got the point they were looking for, they could have done so much more in terms of performance. He said however the important thing was that they got the job done.