T&T went under to Costa Rica 3-0 in their opening match of Division 1 of the Concacaf Boys Under-15 Championship at the IMG Academy, Brandenton, Florida, USA on Sunday.
It was a tale of two halves for T&T, both of which the national Under-15 team will have to put behind them as the competition is continuing at a rapid pace.
The youngsters were down 3-0 in the first 20 minutes of their 70-minute encounter and they never recovered from the early onslaught despite a spirited second-half effort.
The Central Americans got on the board as early as the fifth minute through Creichel Perez who capitalized on a flat-footed T&T defence to put the ball well out of the reach of goalkeeper Triston Edwards.
Ten minutes later it was Josimar Alcoceri who made it 2-0 for Costa Rica with Perez making it 3-0 in the 19th.
T&T had some good looks at goal in this period and even had a Nathanial James effort questionably disallowed for offside but their love affair with uprights also continued in this match with Jahiem Faustin disturbing the right post with a well-struck attempt and as the half time whistle beckoned, captain Jahiem Marshall hit the right post following a fine run from deep.
T&T coach, Stuart Charles-Fevrier’s team was a much-improved unit in the second-half when it came to keeping Costa Rica at bay but many-a-chances went begging in their efforts to get something out of the match.
James, in particular, caused a lot of problems with some penetrating runs into the penalty area one of which result in a penalty for T&T but once again the post was found when Josiah Wilson powerfully blasted the spot-kick into the woodwork.
The loss was a difficult one for the coach especially after witnessing his players quality play in the second half.
“I thought the first fifteen minutes we were very sluggish in terms of coping with the intensity of Costa Rica.
I thought when the game settled, we definitely matched them and created goal scoring opportunities but unfortunately we did not capitalise on them.”
Charles-Fevrier also pointed out a major area of concern, he said, “In terms of the defence, we have to recruit in order to create some more competition, because most of the defenders I have at present were midfield players I transformed.”
This recruitment is expected to be conducted at home and overseas as the focus on World Cup qualification intensifies.
Recovery is the key for the U-15s as they go into action again on today (Monday) against Barbados with just over 24 hours between games.
The Bajans also had a tough opening match when they went down 6-0 to European guest-team Portugal, which makes the all-Caribbean clash all the more interesting.