T&T senior men's team suffered a 2-1 extra-time defeat againt Suriname in their first match CFU Gold Cup play-off encounter last night at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva. It marked the first time since 1979 that Suriname beat T&T.
Substitute Ivanildo Rozenblad rifled home a powerful right-footer into the back of the net in the third minute of the second half of extra-time session which beat keeper Adrian Foncette for pace and placement.
After the 90-minute regulation-time the teams were evenly matched 1-1 after a goal-less first half which saw both outfits missed a number of scoring oppotunities.
However, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock when Guno Kwasie scored with a left footed shot from at the edge of the penalty-area on the left-side. His shot took a deflection of defender Carlyle Mitchell and flew under goalkeeper Fincette in the 76th minute.
Suriname's goal spurred on the T&T players and Tyrone Charles curled in a powerful right-footed free-kick from outside the 18-yards box into the roof of the goal for the equaliser, after a foul on team-mate and substitute Shahdon Winchester in the 82nd minute.
Earlier, Suriname came closest to breaking the deadlock when in the 54th minute when the nippy Dimitrie Apai, who plays for local club W Connection hit the post with a low-powerful shot that had the T&T defence completely beaten.
Before the start of the game, the T&T team reported that Cornell Glen was injured in the pre-match warm up with a harmstring injury. His spot was taken by Trevin Caesar who was a stand-by for the match. In fact, he was not in coach Saintfiet's squad before the surprised exclusion of Jomal Williams, Joevin Jones and Daneil Cyrus. Maurice Ford of W Connection was also said to be injured.
Suriname will play Haiti tomorrow night at the same venue from 7 pm, while T&T will tackle Haiti on Sunday from 5 pm.
The winner of this three-team tournament will then advance to the next round of the qualifiers against an opponent from Central America which is yet to be named. The winner of that phase will book a place in the 14th edition of the Concacaf Gold Cup Tournament which takes place from July 7�26, 2017 in the USA.
T&T STARTING SQUAD
1.Adrian Foncette (GK); 11.Carlos Edwards (captain), 6.Radanfah Abu Bakr, 12.Carlyle Mitchell, 2.Aubrey David; 19.Kevan George, 15.Hughtun Hector; 8.Nathan Lewis, 5.Hashim Arcia, 7.Tyrone Charles; 9.Akeem Roach.
Substitutes: 21.Glenroy Samuel (GK), 4.Curtis Gonzales, 10.Shahdon Winchester, 14.Andre Boucaud, 16.Alvin Jones, 18.Aikim Andrews, 20.Trevin Caesar.
Subs used:
#10.Shahdon replaced Winchester #5.Hashim Arcia in the 60th
#18.Aikim Andrews replaced #8.Nathan Lewis in the 69th
#14.Andre Boucaud replaced #9 Akeem Roach in the 78th
Injured: 13.Cornell Glen, 17.Maurice Ford.
Head Coach: Tom Saintfiet