King: We lost focus in key moments; Venezuela subs overturn deficit to down T&T 4-1

Trinidad and Tobago struck first but were eventually overwhelmed 4-1 by neighbours Venezuela in the opening 2026 Fifa Series fixture at the Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan this morning.

The Soca Warriors will now play Gabon on Monday at the same venue, before returning home.

Interim Trinidad and Tobago head coach Derek King might take heart by how his troops matched up with an experimental Venezuelan team for much of the first hour.

But once Venezuela coach Oswaldo Vizcarrondo turned to his more experienced players on the bench, it was effectively: game over.

“I am disappointed with the outcome—we lost focus in key moments,” King told the TTFA Media. “We have to learn how to manage games better. The first 60 minutes are a big positive… That shows the players can compete at this level.

“We have to improve defensively, not just as a back line, but as a team.”

King could point to the fact that he was also without at least four key players, in the figures of central defender Kobi Henry, left back Andre Raymond and flankers Tyrese Spicer and Dante Sealy.

Still, the Trinidad and Tobago line-up was vastly more experienced.

Five of Venezuela’s starting XI, which included goalkeeper Cristopher Varela and three of his back four defenders, made their senior international debuts this morning.

From their remaining six players, only captain and right back Jon Aramburu had more than five international appearances under his belt.

Combined, Vizcarrondo’s starting team had 30 caps and two goals between them.

In contrast, Trinidad and Tobago forward Reon Moore, who has scarcely featured for his country over the last year and a half, has 32 caps and 10 goals by himself. And King’s starting team had an aggregate of 293 caps with 39 goals.

The Warriors made a remarkable start against their green neighbours, as they won a penalty kick within the opening 40 seconds!

Midfielder Duane Muckette, in his first international appearance since the Unity Cup in May 2025, played a ball to captain Levi Garcia and ran through the channel between opposing left back and central defender, and on to a perfectly weighted return pass from Garcia.

Varela’s first act as an international player was to upend Muckette for a penalty. His second contribution, though, was to save Garcia’s kick.

The 26-year-old custodian dived to his left to push Garcia’s effort against the upright.

Garcia, who failed to score in any of his five outings in the third and final round of Concacaf 2026 World Cup qualifying, has now gone eight games without a senior international goal.

Still, Trinidad and Tobago exhibited decent patience on the ball in the opening 20 minutes and looked relatively comfortable. Venezuela upped the tempo thereafter, as they pressed the opposing backline and could argue the latter stages of the first half belonged to them.

Goalless after 45 minutes, the Warriors struck first after the interval.

Garcia streaked past opposing left back Luis Balbo with a stepover, and his cross-cum-shot was fended away by Varela, into Moore’s path. And the soldier, who is on loan at Vietnam club Song Lam Nghe, responded with a sharp first time left-footed effort to open the scoring.

Moore, also not called upon since the May 2025 Unity Cup, is now Trinidad and Tobago’s highest scoring senior international player with 11 goals from 16 starts and 17 substitute appearances.

Ryan Telfer (10 goals from 28 starts and six substitute appearances) and Garcia (10 goals from 46 starts and eight substitute appearances) are next on the scoring charts, among current players.

Incidentally, none of that trio are regular centre-forwards.

More than a decade later, Trinidad and Tobago still have not adequately replaced either Stern John, or Kenwyne Jones for that matter—both of whom played at the Germany 2006 World Cup.

It is one of the reasons why the Soca Warriors are not competing in the Fifa inter-confederation play-off, or already in possession of a place at the 2026 World Cup.

Vizcarrondo had seen enough. He sent forward Salomón Rondón (120 caps, 48 goals) to warm up.

By the time Rondon was introducing himself to the fourth official, Venezuela had already pulled level, though.

Defender Jerrin Jackie sullied an otherwise solid show with a needless turnover, as he tried to drive forward with the ball. And Venezuela flanker Gleiker Mendoza slipped the ball in the channel for their winger on the far side, Delvin Alfonzo, to equalise with a crisp drive past Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Denzil Smith in the 59^th minute.

Vizcarrondo introduced Rondón in the 61st minute, along with attacker Telasco Segovia (16 caps, two goals) and midfielder Cristian Cásseres (44 caps, zero goals).

The impact on the game was unmistakable.

In the 64^th minute, Segovia found Mendoza in space in the opposing area, only for the latter player to hit over the bar. Two minutes later, Venezuela went ahead.

Mendoza released Jorge Yriarte down the left flank and his cross was converted at the back post by Alfonzo, who took advantage of Powder’s lack of defensive awareness at the time.

King turned to his bench now, with Nathaniel James, Daniel David, Real Gill and Roald Mitchell all entering the fray.

James showed some neat touches on the ball and forced a desperate lunging tackle from Aramburu in the 80^th minute. However, Venezuela scored off the resulting corner kick.

Right back Rio Cardines’ set piece was cleared only as far as David, but the Central FC midfielder was then dispossessed. And a through pass from another Venezuelan substitute, Luis Gonzalez, found Rondón with time and space to stretch the lead to 3-1.

Three minutes later, Rondón got his double after Gonzalez and debutante substitute Carlos Sosa combined to open up the Trinidad and Tobago defence that now featured teenager Adam Pierre and rookie Jaylen Yearwood.

La Vinotinto were in complete control and only the final whistle prevented further punishment.

“This is a young group with some experienced players, and these types of games are part of the learning process,” said King, whose assessment did not factor the inexperience of the opposition. “There are clear positives, but also clear lessons. We have to be more consistent over 90 minutes.”

King’s unit certainly had more ideas on the ball than they showed in a 3-0 loss to Bolivia, two weeks ago. But against a team ranked 50^th in the world by Fifa, 52 places higher than Trinidad and Tobago at present, it was no contest—once they had a decent XI on the field.

“I thought we gave a very good account of ourselves for the first 60 minutes of the game,” said King, who also worked as Central FC assistant coach before his interim appointment. “We were organized, disciplined, and we showed courage both with and without the ball.

“We were able to take the lead early in the second half, which was a positive reflection of our work. Unfortunately, at this level, moments decide games.

“We conceded a soft goal from a situation we should manage better, and after that we lost a bit of our structure and concentration, and that’s something we have to address quickly.

“At this level, those moments shift momentum. After that, we lost a bit of composure and structure, and Venezuela capitalized.”

King will get another chance to show what he can extract from the Warriors on Monday.

After that, the Men’s National Senior Team programme is expected to go dormant until after the 2026 World Cup, when Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president Kieron Edwards and his executive must decide who will steer the Warriors into the 2025/26 Concacaf Nations League A competition.

Having already sacked two coaches, Angus Eve and Yorke, in two years, Edwards’ next appointment will be crucial to the fate of the TTFA’s flagship team.

(Teams)

Trinidad and Tobago (4-3-3): 22.Denzil Smith (GK); 8.Rio Cardines (5.Jaylen Yearwood 82), 4.Jerrin Jackie, 17.Justin Garcia (6.Adam Pierre 74), 23.Noah Powder; 10.Duane Muckette (14.Daniel David 67), 18.Andre Rampersad, 15.Dantaye Gilbert (9.Nathaniel James 67); 11.Levi Garcia (captain), 13.Reon Moore (20.Real Gill 67), 7.Ryan Telfer (19.Roald Mitchell 67).

Unused substitutes: 1.Jabari Brice (GK), 21.Teshorne Ragoo (GK), 2.Deron Payne, 3.Lindell Sween, 12.John-Paul Rochford, 16.Shervohnez Hamilton, 24.Jaheim Faustin.

Coach: Derek King

Venezuela (4-2-4): 12.Cristopher Varela (GK) (22.Jesus Camargo GK 85); 4.Jon Aramburu (captain), 25.Andrusw Araujo, 14.Diego Osio, 13.Luis Balbo (5.Teo Quintero 73); 17.Gustavo Gonzalez (8.Cristian Cásseres 61), 6.Jorge Yriarte (11.Luis Gonzalez 73); 15.Delvin Alfonzo (19.Jovanny Bolivar 85), 18.Keiber Lamadrid (10.Telasco Segovia 61), 9.Alejandro Marques (23.Salomón Rondón 61), 7.Gleiker Mendoza (24.Carlos Sosa 73).

Unused substitutes: 1.Jose Contreras (GK), 2.Nahuel Ferraresi, 3.Carlos Vivas, 16.Wikelman Carmona, 21.Jesus Ramirez, 26.Carlos Faya.

Coach: Oswaldo Vizcarrondo.

Fifa Series

(27 March 2026)

Trinidad and Tobago 1 (Reon Moore 52), Venezuela 4 (Delvin Alfonzo 59, 66, Salomón Rondón 81, 84) at the Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium, Tashkent.