Trinidad and Tobago’s hopes of advancing to the next phase of the Concacaf Nations League were shattered last night after they were drubbed 4-0 by a well-oiled Honduras at the Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
A double from midfielder Alberth Elis was more than enough to give the home side victory and confine the Soca Warriors to yet another humiliating 4-0 loss in four days.
In a game in which T&T were put under defensive pressure from the first whistle by a slick Honduran midfield which grabbed control of the game, Elis first converted a penalty in the second minute of time added on for stoppages in the first half. After defender Aikim Andrews brought down Honduran winger Jonathan Torohia in the penalty area, Elis stepped up and buried a right-footed shot into the bottom right-hand corner of T&T goalie Marvin Phillip’s net to increase the advantage to 3-0.
Elis completed his double in the 52-minute when he latched onto a through ball from Torohia inside the penalty area and unleashed a right-footer which gave a now weary Phillip no chance again.
Torohia had earlier given Honduras the lead after just five minutes when he beat Phillip with a right-footer from just outside the box off a free-kick.
Influential midfielder Brayan Moya, who pulled most of the strings in the middle of the field for his team, then gave them a 2-0 cushion 15 minutes later with a left-footer inside the penalty area off a feed from Félix Crisanto.
T&T, beaten 3-0 in a mid-week friendly by Ecuador, tried their best in the second half but simply did not have the depth to launch a comeback. To add insult to injury, coach Dennis Lawrence lost both Jomal Williams and Carlyle Mitchell and to injuries.
Score:
HONDURAS 4 (J.Torohia 5', B Moya 20', A Elis 45'+2' PEN, 54') v T&T 0
Teams:
HONDURAS: Luis López, Maynor Figueroa, Denil Maldonado, Éver Alvarado, Félix Crisanto, Brayan Moya (Edwin Rodriguez 87'), Carlos Pineda, Alexander López, Román Castillo (Juan Mejia 85'), Jonathan Torohia (Rigoberto Rivas 79'), Alberth Elis
T&T: Marvin Phillip, Aubrey David, Sheldon Bateau, Ross Russell (Carlyle Mitchell 56', Daneil Cyrus 70'), Aikim Andrews, Ataullah Guerra, Kevon Goddard, Aaron Lester, Marcus Joseph, Ryan Telfer, Jomal Williams (Jomoul Francois 75')