T&T U17s crash out to Costa Rica in crucial WCQ, after sterile showing in Alajuela

Trinidad and Tobago could not take the final qualifying spot at stake for the Qatar 2025 Fifa U-17 World Cup, as the young Soca Warriors fell 2-0 away to hosts Costa Rica last night at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela.

It meant Los Ticos advanced to the World Youth Cup as group winners, with no defeats and a solitary draw against Guyana across four matches—in Concacaf’s new abbreviated qualifying format.

A record eight qualifying places were offered to Concacaf, as Fifa expanded the tournament to 48 teams.

Concacaf has 35 full Fifa nations: three in North America, seven in Central America and 25 from the Caribbean. However, only Haiti managed to qualify from the Caribbean, thanks to a 2-0 win over Guatemala last night—while Canada, Mexico, Honduras, the United States, Panama and El Salvador took the remaining berths.

The Warriors were still alive at kickoff last night. But they never really showed up in Alajuela and left with barely a whimper.

The talking point of the match might be defender Adam ‘Toka’ Pierre’s use of his forearm against opposing attacker Isaac Badilla in the dying moments of the first half, which gifted Costa Rica a penalty that Badilla duly dispatched himself.

Was it a foul? Did Badilla con Canadian referee Michael Venne?

It was certainly needless. Pierre struggles to contain his aggression at times, and Venne, who handled the match superbly for the most part, might deserve the benefit of the doubt.

However, Pierre was almost certainly Trinidad and Tobago’s best player on the night. There were key interceptions, his force of personality and, best of all, his impeccable distribution with either foot.

The penalty was a big mistake. But Pierre came out to compete for his country.

Elsewhere, though, more than a few players in white Trinidad and Tobago shirts looked like a bundle of nerves and did not do themselves justice.

Left winger Jaydon Caprietta never stopped probing at Costa Rica right back Yerlan Sosa and swung crosses into the box at every opportunity, goalkeeper Levi Williams did not put a foot wrong, and forward Josiah Kallicharan ran himself into the ground.

But Trinidad and Tobago rarely moved the ball well enough to put the hosts under sustained pressure and, although the Warriors needed a win, Costa Rica goalkeeper Ian O’ Rourke was never stretched.

Coach Shawn Cooper reverted to the 4-2-3-1 formation that his players are most familiar with, rather than the 3-4-1-2 system that he used in wins over the British Virgin Islands and Sint Maarten.

Cooper started forward Phillip Nelson on the right flank ahead of Jasai Theophilus, though, which meant he had the flexibility to move to rotate between the two systems at a moment’s notice—by sending Nelson inside and asking right back Talan McMillan to push higher up the field.

But, in the end, last night’s contest had little to do with tactics.

Concerns about officiating did not bear out while there were empty seats all over the stadium, as Costa Rica football fans again had better things to do than turn out to support their National Under-17 Team.

Last night was about which team was better prepared to contest a game of massive importance; and it was not even close.

Costa Rica were hardly impressive themselves—they were neither fluent nor incisive for much of the first half. But, unlike Trinidad and Tobago, they did not lose their one-on-one duels. And, when their moment came, they were ready.

Cooper suggested beforehand that his players will follow Guyana’s lead in pressing high against Costa Rica. But the tactic, which seemed to hinge almost entirely on Kallicharan’s efforts to harass the opposing backline, rarely forced turnovers.

And a halftime tweak by Costa Rica coach Randall Row, who might have observed that Kallicharan pressed in isolation from his teammates, saw the hosts keep possession easily thereafter.

So Trinidad and Tobago needed two goals but could not force Costa Rica into mistakes in their own half of the field, or pin them on their heels by collectively advancing into opposition territory.

Cooper moved to 3-4-1-2 for the second half. But Costa Rica already had their chests out by then and were managing the game reasonably well, while the Warriors looked flustered and short of on-field leadership.

It was not until the 75th minute that Cooper turned to his bench and the changes were like-for-like. Timothy Valentine replaced Nelson upfront while Caden Trestrail came on for Dominic Joseph in the playmaker role.

Against Sint Maarten, Cooper reaped the benefit of being bold after employing Trestrail, Joseph and Criston Gomez together in midfield. Of course, Costa Rica are a different kettle of fish—but, facing a deficit, could he have been bolder?

Gomez played for the final five minutes, as a replacement for the ineffectual captain and midfielder Nikosi Foncette.

Trinidad and Tobago made just three substitutions. None had much impact.

Instead, Costa Rica came close to extending their lead in the 83rd minute, when midfielder Adriel Perez hit the bar from distance. And, four minutes later, forward Ethan Barley gave the hosts an insurance item as he lost his markers to head home from a corner kick.

Cooper took a weakened version of his current team to Jamaica for two friendlies last Easter. Of his 14 players used today, only Caprietta, Foncette and midfielder Seth Hadeed made that trip.

Then there was an international friendly against Saint Lucia, on the eve of their departure for this tournament, which was aborted after 25 minutes when the lights did not come on at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.

It was the sum total of the international experience offered by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association for their Under-17 Team’s World Cup campaign. It was, obviously, insufficient—and it would always be insufficient.

Insanity, goes the saying, is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

(Teams)

Trinidad and Tobago (4-2-3-1): 1.Levi Williams (GK); 2.Talan McMillan, 20.Sheridan McNish, 4.Adam Pierre, 13.Chaz Williams; 16.Seth Hadeed, 6.Nikosi Foncette (captain) (8.Criston Gomez 85); 9.Phillip Nelson (11.Timothy Valentine 75), 10.Dominic Joseph (12.Caden Trestrail 75), 5.Jaydon Caprietta; 19.Josiah Kallicharan.

Unused substitutes: 18.Necose Moore (GK), 21.Mikhail Clement (GK), 3.Jimally Renne, 7.Jasai Theophilus, 14.Adasa Richardson, 15.Eran McLeod, 17.Quinton John.

Coach: Shawn Cooper

Costa Rica (4-2-3-1): 1.Ian O’ Rourke (GK); 2.Yerlan Sosa (19.Gustavo Villar 90), 3.Thiago Cordero (captain), 17.Brayan Calderon, 14.William Marchena; 8.Adriel Perez, 12.Nick Bennette (15.Carlos Urbina 88); 7.Isaac Badilla, 10.Sebastian Lopez (6.Ernesto Umana 69), 11.Marcus Brown (20.Luis Medina 69); 9.Ethan Barley (16.Kaden Farrier 88).

Unused substitutes: 13.Marshall Alfaro (GK), 18.Jafeth Lopez (GK), 4.Yeudi Hernandez, 5.Adrian Espinoza.

Coach: Randall Row

Referee: Michael Venne (Canada)

Concacaf U-17 Qualifier results

(Sunday 16 February)

Costa Rica 2 (Isaac Badilla 44 pen, Ethan Barley 87), Trinidad and Tobago 0 at Alajuela;

British Virgin Islands 1 (Luca Stuttard 90+1), Guyana 1 (Jaden Harris 53) at Alajuela;

(Thursday 13 February)

Sint Maarten 0, Trinidad and Tobago 9 (Josiah Kallicharan 35, 48, 72, Sheridan McNish 42, Adam Pierre 84, Timothy Valentine 86, Criston Gomez 88, Caden Trestrail 89, Nikosi Foncette 90+6) at San Jose;

Guyana 2 (Joshua Morris 38, Shaquan David 54), Costa Rica 2 (Max Robinson OG 1, Marcus Brown 43) at San Jose;

(Tuesday 11 February 2025)

Guyana 3 (Shaquan David 18, Quaency Fraser 56, Jaden Harris 73), Sint Maarten 0 at San Jose;

Costa Rica 5 (Isaac Badilla 26, Brayan Calderon 43, 66, Marcus Brown 60 pen, Nick Bennette 83), British Virgin Islands 0 at San Jose;

(Sunday 9 February 2025)

Trinidad and Tobago 3 (Josiah Kallicharan 7, 26, Qu’yl Billingy OG 22), British Virgin Islands 1 (Zeveih Abraham 90+2) at San Jose;

Sint Maarten 0, Costa Rica 12 (Isaac Badilla 3, 7, 53, Yerlan Sosa 11, 71, Ethan Barley 19, Marcus Brown 39, Sebastian Lopez 48, Luis Medina 59, Kaden Farrier 67, Thiago Cordero 79, Gabriel Sibaja 85) at San Jose;

(Friday 7 February 2025)

British Virgin Islands 4 (Sam Sharma 34, Latriel Williams 62, Luca Stuttard 69, 73), Sint Maarten 0 at San Jose;

Trinidad and Tobago 1 (Phillip Nelson 54), Guyana 1 (Joshua Morris 33) at San Jose.