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Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team head coach Dwight Yorke said his troops deserved a point against Haiti last night, although he acknowledged that their opponents never lost control of the match despite being a player short.
At the final whistle, Haiti outshot Trinidad and Tobago 16 to 9 in the Concacaf Gold Cup affair at the Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, with the French-speaking islands managing three shots on target compared to two from the Soca Warriors.
Photo: TTFA Media.
Haiti, though, were a player short since the 39th minute, when defender Jean-Kévin Duverne was ejected for a trip on Trinidad and Tobago stand-in captain Levi Garcia.
The Soca Warriors improved after the break, particularly after veteran playmaker Kevin Molino came off the substitutes’ bench. But even then, the shot count was eight apiece, with two efforts on target for both teams.
Yorke, in the post-match press conference, suggested that Trinidad and Tobago did enough in the final 35 minutes to merit a share of the spoils.
Photo: TTFA Media.
“I think the reaction of our players towards the end, once we made the substitutions with Molino and the introduction of Real Gill and those guys—we turned the game on its head in many respects,” said Yorke.
“Even though we are a little bit fortunate with the penalty miss against us, we felt we’d done enough to get at least a point out of this game.
“It would have been a little harsh from our point [of view] if we hadn’t come away with something, especially with the [numerical] advantage in our favour in the second half.”
Yorke criticised his players for not being brave and aggressive enough from the opening whistle and only really showing for the ball when Haiti were down to 10 players.
And he opined that the issue was down to mentality, rather than a tactical deficiency.
Photo: TTFA Media.
“We always encourage players [to play] on the front foot,” said Yorke. “In the first half, we were not creative enough […] it was like they were afraid to make mistakes. I try to get my players out of that mentality.
“[…] The substitutions brought a little bit more creativity and forward thinking. [But] that is what we need from the very beginning, not when we have the [numerical] advantage.”
Again, Yorke stressed that his players “are still in the learning process” and learning to handle the demands at this level.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
Only three from Trinidad and Tobago’s starting XI yesterday, the MLS duo of Tyrese Spicer and Dante Sealy and Crystal Palace youth player Rio Cardines, have not played in a Gold Cup before. Cardines and Sealy both played international Concacaf tournaments at the youth level, though.
Yorke hailed Spicer as a terrific talent and urged him to have more belief in his abilities on the field.
“He is a threat, he is a defender’s nightmare,” said the former Manchester United star. “Those type of players need to impact the game throughout [and] not just in spells or moments… He should be impacting the game a lot more with his ability.”
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
Yorke is concerned, too, that his players are not imposing themselves physically on opponents.
“There is a lot of physicality at this level,” said the Warriors coach. “[…] We have become a team that is relatively easy to play against, because we are a footballing sort of team, but there is a physicality side of it, and we need to be a little bit more aggressive.
“That is something we certainly talked about, and we are going to have to improve on that if we are going to have a chance to advance out of this [group].”
He was replaced tonight by Levi Garcia.
(via Concacaf.)
Trinidad and Tobago can still qualify for the Gold Cup quarter-final stage, for the first time in 10 years, with a win over Saudi Arabia.
Yorke is yet to steer the Soca Warriors to a victory over a team ranked higher than his own, after eight attempts. He would hope the ninth time is the charm, then.
“At the end of the day, we are still in with a shout,” said Yorke, “so we are very grateful for that as well.”
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Socawarriors we need to be more aggressive from the start and impose ourselves on our opponent. We need to dominate possession and stop conceding the ball to our opponents. Our passing and movement on and of the ball need to be faster on and of the ball consistently and close down opposing players with the ball consistently.
Come on Soca Warriors, step it up a few notches. We can’t be struggling to beat Haiti at this level.