T&T's Under 20 footballers let their first point at the Fifa Under-20 World Cup slip away as they lost to Italy 2-1 before 30,000 fans at the Cairo International Stadium on Monday night. The result, following a 4-1 loss to host Egypt in their opening game, effectively ended T&T's chances of moving into the next round of competition. They will meet Paraguay in their final match on Thursday. When Juma Clarence collected the ball and slapped it past Italian goalkeeper Vincenzo Fiorillo on 62 minutes to level the score 1-1, T&T were left scenting something as the crowd got behind them.
However, it did not turn out that way as the experienced Italians got the winner with 12 minutes left when a bad cross field ball by Clarence was picked up and Mattia Mustacchio made the run before putting the ball into the box for Silvano Raggio to power past a hapless Glenroy Samuel. There were no favours for the boys from T&T who appeared to have taken the lead in the 31st minute. But Solomon Islands assistant referee Matthew Taro saw what nobody else did when he raised his flag to deny Robert Primus' sliding effort from a corner which beat Fiorillo on its way into the net. The Italians never appealed and T&T celebrated but referee Peter O Leary of New Zealand, after signaling the goal, ran towards Taro for confirmation and then disallowed the goal. Even the Italians appeared somewhat surprised by the decision.
It did not get better as Michaelangelo Arbetazzi headed past Samuel from a left side corner in the 39th minute to give Italy the lead which they held to the half. T&T never buckled and Leston Paul and his troops went in search of the equaliser. Gay should have done better when the ball fell perfectly for him in the box but he went for power instead of placement and could only look on in agony as his effort crashed off the crossbar. The reward came when Clarence capitalised on Matteo Gentile's mis-clearance, beat the defender, before clinically finishing to level the scores at one apiece. The goal inspired the Caribbean team and they got the fans behind them. Paul had a low effort saved and Gay also sent a glancing header wide in the 75th minute. Hyland also headed over bar with nine minutes left on the clock. But the Italians also stayed in the game, remaining organised and penetrating and eventually got the winner in the 78th minute.
Coach Zoran Vranes said he was proud of the display. "I think we played a good game and deserved a better result. I don't want to say we were cheated but we got punished for our mistakes. I am proud of the effort." Reflecting on T&T's disallowed goal, Vranes was pleased that it did not affect his team. "I am disappointed to lose this way to Italy especially to see how they were celebrating as if they won the World Cup," Vranes said. Goalscorer Clarence was obviously the most disappointed of the lot. "It was good to get my first goal at this level but maybe we could have done better. But we have to take the experience because this is where you learn the hard way. "We have another game and hopefully we can make up for it," he said.
At the Fifa post game press conference, several reporters, including one Italian, asked how the team would cope with their misfortune. Vranes smiled and promised a reversed result if there was a rematch. Italy's head coach Francesco Rocca was a relieved man. "I'm very happy with my team and with the result. Trinidad and Tobago was a tough team today They were very strong physically. We improved as the game progressed and managed to keep them under pressure for most of the match. I was happy that we got the victory."
