T&T senior men's football team winger Tyrese Spicer came off the bench to set up a last-gasp winner for Orlando City SC in their 3-2 win over Nashville SC in their US Major League Soccer (MLS) Eastern Conference encounter at the Inter & Co Stadium, Orlando, Florida, on Saturday night.
With the win, Orlando City SC didn't technically clinch a spot in the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs as they remained sixth with 51 points from 30 matches, but last-minute scorer Duncan McGuire has them all but qualified thanks to some stoppage-time heroics.
McGuire scored a 95th-minute winner after turning home a left-sided centre from Spicer, who was introduced off the bench in the 73rd minute for Ivan Angulo, that left them on the verge of a sixth-straight postseason trip under head coach Oscar Pareja.
In fact, the win would've clinched a playoff berth had other Matchday 35 results gone their way.
While McGuire delivered the last-gasp winner, Martín Ojeda laid the foundation for Orlando's first victory in three games with another stellar performance.
The Argentine number ten continued his Landon Donovan MLS MVP form with a first-half brace, highlighted by a stunning free-kick at the half-hour mark.
Ojeda scored his second of the night just two minutes later, reaching 16 goals/14 assists on the season while giving the Lions a comfortable cushion.
Orlando almost wasted it, conceding goals to Hany Mukhtar a minute into time added-on at the end of the first half, and Jacob Shaffelburg, six minutes after the resumption, before McGuire, who, like Spicer, was a substitute, replacing Luis Muriel in the 63rd minute, came to the rescue off the bench, finishing off a move by Spicer.
In addition to a postseason berth, Orlando City SC are chasing a top-four finish in the Eastern Conference that would secure homefield advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.
Garcia opens scoring in SLNA draw in Vietnam
National defender Justin "Shiggy" Garcia marked his return to the Song Lam Nghe An (SLNA) starting line-up in the Vietnam V-League I with the opening goal in his team's 1-1 draw with Hong Lingh Ha Tinh on Sunday.
The 29-year-old former T&T Defence Force centre-back Garcia, who was red-carded on his SLNA debut back on August 17, in a 2-1 loss to PVF-CAND, put SLNA ahead as early as the seventh minute.
Eight minutes later, SLNA's chances of victory were further boosted when Ha Tinh was reduced to ten men after Huynh Tan Tai was shown a straight red card.
But despite being a man down, Huynh Tan Tai managed to draw level in the 54th minute thanks to Viktor Le, after which both teams failed to find a winner.
With the draw, SLNA, which also featured T&T striker Reon Moore from the starting whistle, stayed in joint fifth spot with seven points with Hai Phong and Nam Dinh, while Cong An Ha Noi and Cong An HCMC are joint top with ten points each, one more than Ninh Binh, who have only played three matches, while Viettel is fourth with eight points.
Telfer, Rampersad move closer to CPL playoffs with Wanderers
T&T duo, Ryan Telfer and Andre Rampersad, both featured as HFX Wanderers won the latest coastal clash against Pacific FC 3-0 in the Canadian Premier League on Saturday afternoon, scoring three times in the second half to move closer to clinching a playoff spot.
After a scoreless first half, the Wanderers scored twice in the first ten minutes of the second half, with Isaiah Johnston chipping the ball over Sean Melvin in the 51st minute courtesy an assist from Sea Rea before Lorenzo Callegari doubled the lead from the penalty spot four minutes later. Rea contributed to a third goal as well to put the cherry on top of a dominant second half, taking the shot that deflected off Roshawn Juhmi and into the back of the Pacific net to make it 3-0.
With the game secured, Rampersad was introduced to protect his team's lead in the 79th minute off the bench for Vitor Dias.
With the win, Halifax, who improved to 35 points from 24 matches on the eight-team league for the fourth spot, secured their playoff spot later on Saturday after Valour FC, sixth with 22 points and four matches left to play, was swept aside by Cavalry FC by a similar 3-0 margin in Calgary.