T&T Under-17s got their quest for a third ever FIFA Under-17 World Cup berth off to a disappointing start as they fell 4-1 to Guatemala in the opening match of the 2015 Concacaf Under-17 Championship at the Estadio Francisco Morazan, San Pedro, Sula, Honduras on Friday night.
Diego Raymundo struck for two goals for the Central Americans who were the last team to qualify for the competition after prevailing over El Salvador in a two-legged playoff, 2-1 on aggregate.
It was an offensive explosion from a side that was shutout four times in its last five matches in the competition, and in fact, the output ranked as Guatemala's best ever in a Concacaf Under-17 game.
In the two other Pool A matches, host Honduras blanked Jamaica 2-0 and USA trounced Cuba 5-0 while yesterday in Pool B Panama battled defending champions Mexico; St Lucia tackled Costa Rica, and Canada tangled with Haiti.
The Kareem Riley-captained T&T squad returns to action tomorrow against USA from 9pm (TT time), while Guatemala faces Jamaica at 6.30pm, and Honduras comes up against Cuba at 11.30pm. In addition T&T also meets Honduras (March 5), Jamaica (March 8) and Cuba (March 11).
The top team from each group after round-robin play advances directly to the World Cup and the other two places will be determined by the results of the final day elimination matches.
Results
Friday's Concacaf
Under-17 results
Pool A
Guatemala 4 (Diego Raymundo 3rd, 54th, Victor Valdez 10th, Abel Lemus 45th+2) vs T&T 1 (Keston Julien 45th)
Honduras 2 (Darixon Vuelto 12th, Jorge Alvarez 78th) vs Jamaica 0
USA 5 (Joe Gallardo 40th, 65th, 88th, Hugo Arellano 5th, Alejandro Zendejas 43rd) vs Cuba 0
T&T: - 1.Levi Fernandez (GK); 3.Keston Julien, 4.Tekay Hoyce, 5.Shirwin Noel (Red 39), 6.Kareem Riley (capt), 7.Shakeem Patrick, 8.Joshua Burnett (10.Morgan Bruce 46th), 16.Shobal Celestin, 14.Isaiah Hudson (13.Kishon Hackshaw 76th), 19.Noah Powder, 11.Jerren Nixon Jr., (9.Chaz Burnett 56th).
Coach: Shawn Cooper.
Subs not used: - 20.Tyrek James (GK); 2.Isaiah Garcia, 15.Darnell Hospedales, 12.Kierron Mason, 18.John-Paul Rochford., 17. Jeankeon Alexander.
Guatemala: - 12.Gilder Lemus (GK); 2.David Ramos, 4.Fernando Fuentes, 5.Mario Rodas, 17.Abel Lemus (20.Richard Rodriguez 56th), 6.Stefan Behrens (16.Moises Orellana 73rd), 10.John Mendez, 11.Diego Raymundo, 13.Victor Valdez, 15.Armando Aroche, 7.Esteban Garcia (19.Oliver Diaz 90th).
Coach: - Juan Funes.
Subs not used: 1. Angel Castro (GK), 3. Gonzalo Deras, 18. Juan Riley, 8. Alvaro Velsaquez, 14. Erik Soto, 9. Francisco Spross