An assignment that was neglected, has deprived the T&T Soca Warriors of receiving its first and only win of the CONCACAF Gold Cup against Guatemala at the Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
The Warriors opened the scoring from a neat build-up in the 12th minute from Reon Moore but surrendered that lead in the 77th when Gerardo Gordillo was allowed a free header in the area, to equalise from a left side corner.
National coach Angus Eve told the media at a post-match press conference that it was the first time he felt disappointed with the players.
"I was disappointed tonight because we wanted to be on the front foot. We started that way. I thought we dominated the game in the first half, but when we scored the goal, we never really pushed to get the second goal to kill off the game.
"And in the second half, I think the players went into a shell and tried to keep what they had. We tried to drive them forward but they just kept dropping back, which was never in the plan. Someone just missed their assignment, that was the big one from the back. I don't know how Noah Powder ended up marking him, so one of our players missed their assignment today (Sunday)," Eve said.
He added: "Since we came in, we've been talking about lack of fitness, and lack of fitness causes mental lapses and we saw that today (Sunday) in this game. A game we were fully in control of, and I thought in the second half, we allowed Guatemala to come into the game.
"The guys just have to work on their personal fitness because we cannot do everything when they come from their club teams into the national team."
Meanwhile, defender Jesse Williams, who could not finish the game because of an injury to his head, said he gave his all and it was just unfortunate that he could not finish. He assured the team gave its all on the night and will be willing to go back and work to improve their performances in the future.
Defender Alvin Jones said the team started well against the Guatemalans but gave them too much respect in the second half.
Team:
T&T: 1 Marvin Phillip (GK), 16. Alvin Jones, 2 Aubrey David, 8 Mekeil Williams, 18 Triston Hodge, 15 Neveal Hackshaw, 11 Noah Powder, 13 Reon Moore, 3 Hashim Arcia, 14 Andre Fortune II, 9 Marcus Joseph.
Substitutes: 21 Nicklas Frenderup (GK), 22 Adrian Foncette (GK), 4 Jelani Peters, 5 Curtis Gonzales, 6 Radanfah Abu Bakr, 7 Ryan Telfer, 10 Kevin Molino, 12 Isaiah Lee, 17 Justin Garcia, 19.Ross Russell Jr, 20 Duane Muckette, 23 Jesse Williams.
GUATEMALA: 12 Alessandro Navarro, 4 José Carlos Pinto, 20 Gerardo Gordillo, 3Kervin Garcia, 6 Óscar Castellanos, 2 Moises Hernández, 13 Stheven Robles, 10 Alejandro Galindo, 5 Rudy Barrientos, 23 Jorge Aparicio, 18 Oscar Santis, 7 Marvin Ceballos, 14 Darwin Lom, 17 Luís Martínez.
Substitutes: 11 Jairo Arreola, 22 José Morales, 19 Robin Betancourth, 16 Marco Dominguez, 1 Nicholas Hagen, 9 Yeltsin Álvarez, 15 Manuel Lopez Rodas, 21 Kevin Moscoso, 8 Luis De León