T&T’s subs shine in 9-0 rout of Sint Maarten, as Warriors prepare for C/Rica showdown

The Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Under-17 Team will go into their final group stage match against Costa Rica on Sunday with their fate in their own hands, as they remained within two points of the host nation and group leaders today.

There were smiles too as, after two relatively tense affairs against Guyana and the British Virgin Islands, coach Shawn Cooper’s team broke loose with a 9-0 rout over Sint Maarten at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica in San Jose.

In truth, this was a game of—cliché alert—two halves. Trinidad and Tobago were substandard in the first half, as they dropped their intensity to match their woefully inadequate opponents.

The Sint Maarten Under-17 team would struggle to win a match in the Republic Bank National Youth Football League (RBNYFL). Yet, after half an hour, the young Soca Warriors barely had a notable shot on goal!

True, the Dutch islanders, chastened by their 12-0 loss to Costa Rica, faced the two-island republic with a six-man backline. But, even then, their outfield players offered little protection to goalkeeper Sudesh Singh.

It was like a child trying to hide in the middle of a savannah.

However, the Warriors’ created problems for themselves by starting the game at walking pace and the immaturity spread through the team like a virus.

After 27 minutes, Cooper made a statement of intent by replacing midfielder Seth Hadeed with his more creative Fatima College schoolmate Caden Trestrail. And, gradually, his players began to zip the ball about more meaningfully.

Trinidad and Tobago finally took the lead in the 35th minute, as forward Josiah Kallicharan ran on to a straightforward lofted pass from defender Adam ‘Toka’ Pierre to score.

Sint Maarten, incidentally, were trying to play an offside trap with no pressure on the ball and their goalkeeper planted on his goal line. They were ripe for the picking.

Another notable point was that Kallicharan’s opener was the only goal that Trinidad and Tobago scored on the day which did not involve a substitute.

Surely Cooper would be tempted to juggle his starting line-up on that evidence.

In the 42nd minute, defender Sheridan McNish doubled the Warriors’ lead with a close range finish after Trestrail’s cross-cum-shot from a short corner routine rebounded off the post.

The score stood at 2-0 at the interval. Cooper responded by replacing Phillip Nelson, a forward, with Criston ‘CJ’ Gomez, who is theoretically a holding midfielder or right back.

However, Gomez, like Pierre, has the gift of being able to turn any role into an attacking one—and, in any case, Cooper clearly gave the Arima North Secondary student license to roam.

The impact was almost immediate. Roughly 120 seconds into his cameo, Gomez wriggled away from opposing captain Raynicio Drenthe and pulled the ball backwards off square for Kallicharan to get his second.

Kallicharan’s hattrick came off a clever dribble and low cross from Trestrail in the opposing box in the 72nd minute. And then, as it dawned on the tiring Sint Maarten team that they were not quite as good at hide and seek as they thought, the floodgates really swung open.

In the 84th minute, Gomez teed up Pierre who scored with a cracking drive from the edge of the box. Substitute Sint Maarten goalkeeper Jurre Van De Pas had a better chance of reaching the moon than getting a glove on that one.

Flanker Jaydon Caprietta, whose crossing was dismal today, might claim an assist for Trinidad and Tobago’s sixth goal in the 86th minute, although there was a deflection on his cross before another sub, Timothy Valentine, diverted the ball home from point blank range.

Two substitutes combined in the 88th minute, as Trestrail cut back the ball for Gomez to finish with his left boot. And, in the 89th minute, Trestrail got a well deserved goal off an incisive through pass from captain Nikosi Foncette.

Would eight be enough?

Foncette made it 9-0 in the last minute of stoppage time, after the opposing defence failed to clear a Trestrail cross.

The margin of victory is immaterial at this stage. Two dropped points against Guyana mean that the Soca Warriors must defeat Costa Rica to qualify—so this will not be decided by goal difference.

But the smiles on the faces of the Trinidad and Tobago players and the pride with which they greeted their handful of supporters after the final whistle suggested that they did take something tangible out of the rout.

Their moods would have lifted even further after watching Costa Rica draw 2-2 with Guyana tonight. It does not change their task on Sunday, but they could take heart from the host’s vulnerabilities in defending set pieces and facing a high press.

The Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, which seats 35,062 patrons, was practically empty when the Soca Warriors faced Sint Maarten—as it has been for all of Trinidad and Tobago’s games so far.

On Sunday, when Cooper’s team face Costa Rica in the more compact, 18,895-seater Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela, the mood is expected to be very different.

After a lacklustre start against minnows, can Trinidad and Tobago find the right tempo against a slick Costa Rica team? Do Foncette’s troops have the right mentality for such a high stakes affair?

In a disappointing opening draw to Guyana, a patchy 3-1 win over BVI and even in a high scoring 9-0 palance against Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago failed to play at the required standard for more than half of the 90-minute affair.

Mentality generally cannot be turned on and off like a light switch. It is either there, or it isn’t.

But with just 90 minutes separating the young Warriors from the Qatar 2025 Fifa U-17 World Cup, they are entitled to dream.

It’s up to them now.

(Teams)

Trinidad and Tobago (3-4-1-2): 1.Levi Williams (GK) (18.Necose Moore GK 78); 3.Jimally Renne, 20.Sheridan McNish, 4.Adam Pierre; 2.Talan McMillan, 16.Seth Hadeed (12.Caden Trestrail 27), 6.Nikosi Foncette (captain), 5.Jaydon Caprietta; 10.Dominic Joseph (15.Eran McLeod 78); 9.Phillip Nelson (8.Criston Gomez 46), 19.Josiah Kallicharan (11.Timothy Valentine 74).

Unused substitutes: 21.Mikhail Clement (GK), 7.Jasai Theophilus, 13.Chaz Williams, 14.Adasa Richardson, 17.Quinton John.

Coach: Shawn Cooper

Sint Maarten: 18.Sudesh Singh (GK); 3.Rainier Merien, 4.Fermin Marlin, 12.Tim Van Ottele, 15.Deion Pantophlet, 8.Raynicio Drenthe (captain), 10.Jefferson Lijcklama, 20.Kedien Soleana, 16.Ervinio Kleberg Leliendal, 13.Jamaly Fontenelle, 11.Christopher Freeman.

Substitutes: 1.Jurre Van De Pas (GK), 21.Solanio Cornet (GK), 2.Kaden Magloire, 5.Reginaldo Bosse, 6.Neil Henderson, 9.Djurion Williams, 14.Jahier Marlin, 17.Rheno Arrindell, 19.Cemali George.

Coach: Frantz Joseph

Referee: McManaman Bedeau (Grenada)

Concacaf U-17 Qualifier results

(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.

Upcoming fixtures

(Sunday 16 February)

British Virgin Islands vs Guyana, 6pm (TT time), Alajuela;

Costa Rica vs Trinidad and Tobago, 9pm (TT time), Alajuela.