Trinidad and Tobago’s Under-15 footballers advanced to the Tier 2 stage of the FIFA Under-15 World Cup and Festival Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday after a win and a loss on their final day of competition in Group ‘S’.
Facing matches against Egypt and Macau to close off their campaign in the group stage at the Hovsan Competition Complex, the junior Warriors ended with a loss and a win, which proved to be sufficient to propel them to the next round behind the eventual group winner Egypt and second-place Iraq.
In their first match of the day against Egypt on Pitch 3B, captain Aden Jones found the net in the 20th minute, but it could not stop the young Warriors from going down 4-1 to a decent Egypt team. The result of that match put T&T on a level keel of two wins and as many losses in the tournament.
However, the Aden Jones-led T&T team shifted the advantage in their favour by thrashing Macau 4-0 in their last game. Jaden Marcelle, the Signal Hill Secondary striker, led the way with a double.
Djoshua Cyrus handed T&T the early lead, less than a minute after the game started. Then skipper Jones doubled the scoreline in the eighth, before Marcelle stole the spotlight with his items in the 15th and 22nd for a 4-0 victory.
National coach Randolph Boyce, who earlier called for the players to concentrate consistently on the pitch, was high in praise for his charges.
“I think it was good wins. I think the guys played well. I think they deserved the wins. They managed the games well. We expect a little more from them, but we’re quite comfortable with the three wins out of the five, but we know we could have done better,” Boyce explained afterwards.
“Obviously, in the two losses, the teams were very well-organised teams. I think the Iraq game could have gone either way because we had about three clear-cut chances to go on top 2-1 before they actually got the winner. So I think we just need to concentrate and be disciplined a little more and take our chances.”
As the team prepares to enter the Tier 2 stage of the tournament, Boyce told the media he now faces a challenge of injuries, among other things. However, he urged that the Caribbean must fall in line with the development received at the tournament.
“The FA is trying to give us that opportunity and time that we asked for us to be able to put in that work. The players need to put in some individual work as well; we are trying with the FA to do the strength and conditioning, but we’re seeing where we need stronger players, we need fitter players, we need more players with a higher IQ in the game as well.
“The logistics behind this entire (2:16) World Cup campaign is magnificently put-together. The whole setup is amazing. It’s something that I believe that this format of the game is here to stay, and I think we are seeing it where the Caribbean teams are lagging in terms of using this format of the game on a more regular basis.
“So I think if we don’t fall in line with this format of the game, we will be dominated. I would say Trinidad and Tobago has done well for themselves in coming third, and in communicating with all the rest of the Caribbean countries and watching the results, they are quite far behind.
“Right now we have about three injuries, so we are hoping, I guess, like every other team in the tournament, that the physio and the doctor are trying their best to make sure everybody is healthy to go to the next stage,” Boyce concluded.
