'Awful' is how national football coach Dennis Lawrence described Saturday night's 0-6 humiliating defeat at the hands of host United States in Group D of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Now he is calling on players to change their mentality.
In the post-match press conference that followed, Lawrence, whose men were hard-pressed to come away with a victory at the First Energy Stadium in Cleveland, USA after their disappointing 0-2 loss to Panama last Tuesday, said, "How can you be so good for 65 minutes and then so awful for the last 25 minutes, which came as a surprise. But that's our mentality and we have to change our mentality and we have to learn to stand up and fight."
After an otherwise steady opening half, the Warriors went down in the 41st minute when Aaron Long was left unattended in the penalty area when Christian Pulisic left-side centre picked him out, and he made no mistake by heading home, despite the outstretched arms of Marvin Phillips in the T&T goal.
Lawrence said in spite of the goal he was happy at the half-time interval and tried to encourage his players, as he felt they were still in with a chance. But some 20 minutes after the resumption it all fell apart, due mainly to lack of concentration, coupled with the brilliance of Pulisic, the United States' midfielder who plays for Chelsea in the English Premier League.
"We kept Pulisic quiet for 65 minutes and then he found a way, and I think he was aided by us. I felt we lost concentration and we tried to get back into the game, but that's not how you do things. You have to stay organized and believe that what you were doing before, which was working, will get you back in the game," Lawrence explained.
Levi Garcia, T&T's speedy striker got a golden opportunity to level the scores in the 61st minute when midfielder Kevin Molino, on the right side, released him unmarked on the left side, but with the goal at his mercy, Garcia fired wide of the target, dropping the heads of his teammates.
Instead, Gyasi Zardes gave his team a three-goal cushion with a brace in the 66th and 69th minute, and Pulisic stabbed in the fourth when Zardes turned provider with a right-side cross that somehow found its way through a crowded T&T defence to the Chelsea midfielder in the 73rd minute.
Five minutes later Paul Arriola arrived in the six-yard box to tuck in another deft short cross from Morris in the 78th, and with the game heading toward the end, Long added another on the stroke of regulation time, chesting into an open goal, after Weston Mc Kennie's earlier shot was parried into his path.
The result confirms T&T's exit from the tournament despite their clash with regional rivals Guyana on Wednesday. Lawrence assured there will be changes to his team for that encounter, telling reporters "When you lose a match in that manner, you've to make changes."
TEAMS
T&T: Marvin Phillip, Leston Paul, Daneil Cyrus, Aubrey David, Alvin Jones, Khaleem Hyland (Kevin Molino 46), Neveal Hackshaw, Levi Garcí¬a (Lester Peltier 76), Kevan George, Cordell Cato, Nathan Lewis (Joevin Jones 68)
USA: Zack Steffen, Nick Lima (Reggie Cannon 88th), Walker Zimmerman, Aaron Long, Tim Ream, Weston McKennie, Michael Bradley, Christian Pulisic, Tyler Boyd (Jordan Morris 56), Gyasi Zardes (Joze Altidore 73), Paul Arriola