Angus Eve, coach of the T&T Under-22 team men’s team which exited the 16th Pan American Games football tournament with three group draws said he was satisfied with the performance of the team. The young Soca Warriors went into their final group match at the Omnilife Stadium, Guadalajara, Mexico, on Tuesday needing a win over Uruguay to qualify for the semifinals. W Connection striker Shahdon Winchester gave T&T a tenth minute lead but Uruguay struck back with an equalizing goal in the 17th minute through Nicolas Abero. The draw followed similar results against host Mexico (1-1) and Ecuador (1-1) in their other group matches to finish on three points, one behind Uruguay while Mexico topped the table with seven points. Ecuador occupied cellar-spot with one point.
Speaking after the match Eve, a former national midfielder and captain said,”Overall we came out of this tournament with a lot of positives. Obviously the guys are disappointed with the result today because we really felt like the opportunity was there for us to go through to the semi-finals.” “We went into this game knowing that a victory had to be on the cards for us to advance. We got a good start with the go-ahead goal but we did not hold on to the lead and then the goal to take us ahead just did not come. But I am pleased with the efforts of the guys. We can take a lot of positives from this tournament . We got valuable match practice against three teams that are all rated above us and it will serve us well going into the next stage of the Caribbean Football Union London Olympic qualification in November,” Eve added.
T&T’s participation at the Games was due to a late invitation after Guatemala pulled out and Panama and Honduras, which finished ahead of T&T at the Concacaf Under-20 Championships in April declined invitations to fill the vacancy. Defender and captain Sheldon Bateau echoed similar sentiments, saying: “We played three tough matches and we never gave up. There were moments in this tournament where we looked really good as a team and it’s a positive sign for us. We still have some work to do but we have shown a lot of potential and hopefully now we can take this forward with us.” Orlando City midfielder Kevin Molino and Jamal Gay were also pleased with the team’s overall display in the three matches. “We won some admirers here and for me, as one of the foreign-based players in the team, it was a good feeling to see the boys lift their game and stand up to the opponents. We heard the fans here cheering us on which meant we were doing something good.
“As one of the more experienced players in the team I know I had to try and lift our game and I saw the team play some really good football. “Now we have to work on trying to playing like that for longer periods and be able to finish off the matches better which would allow us to win the matches. I think we are heading in the right direction and now we are looking forward to the remainder of the Olympic qualifiers,” Molino said.
Gay added: “We played with a lot of heart but maybe we could have played with more confidence at the start of our matches. This is a really good experience for us. “We realised that once we put our heads down and play the game then we are in with a good chance of beating these teams. But we have to go all out from the start and once we get our chances then goals will come. We defended well also because we conceded only one goal in each game.” T&T will compete in the CFU 2012 Olympic qualifying final round in St Kitts/Nevis along with the host Cuba and Suriname from November 24 to 28.
T&T Pan Am squad
Andre Marchan, Zane Coker, Sheldon Bateau, Mekeil Williams, Joevin Jones, Shahdon Winchester, Trevin Caesar, Aquil Selby, Leslie Joel Russell, Jamal Gay, Jayson Joseph, Marcus Joseph, Kevin Molino, Jeromie Williams, Kareem Moses, Kaydion Gabriel, Micah Lewis, Cameron Roget
Source: www.guardian.co.tt