T&T Under-20 footballers will meet Bermuda in a third/fourth-place match today at the Ergilio Hato stadium in Willemstad, Curacao from 5 pm of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) U-20 Championship.
The match, coming a mere two days after the young Warriors relinquished their hold of the regional title following a shocking 5-4 semi-final defeat by Antigua & Barbuda on Friday night on penalties, will require the Brian Williams-coached team to refocus quickly as they come up against a tricky Bermudan outfit which went down 0-3 to Haiti in the other semi-final encounter.
Kareem Riley missed T&T's third kick as Antigua converted all five from the spot. Goals for T&T came from captain Jabari Mitchell, Keston Julien, Noah Powder and Shane Sandy.
After the game coach Williams was disappointed that T&T failed to put away its chances during the match. Prolific forward Nicholas Dillon missed the encounter after suffering an injury in Wednesday's 0-0 draw with Haiti, leaving the field in the 88th minute.
Williams said, "It's a disappointment yes, that we had to lose the match in the manner in which we did from the penalty kicks."
"I felt we had good enough chances during the regular period of play to take the game but we were not as efficient as I would have liked. It is unfortunate that we had to end up in penalty kicks and then it was any team's match at that stage. I know the players are disappointed as well because we've missed out on a chance of getting to the final.
"The better story for us is that we have been able to book our spot in the final round of CONCACAF and everyone here understands now that the focus towards that tournament in February starts now. It's going to take a lot of sacrifice, dedication and strong preparation for us to be ready to not just go there and play but to compete strongly and qualify for the World Cup in South Korea."
Later, Antigua and Barbuda will meet Haiti to decide, who will be crowned the new champion.
T&T line-up
1. Denzil Smith (GK), 3. Kori Cupid, 5. Taryk Sampson, 6. Noah Powder, 8. Jarred Dass (15. Kation St Hillaire, 46') 10. Jabari Mitchell (Capt), 11. Kareem Riley, 12. Shane Sandy, 14. Taofik Lucas-Walker (16. Micah Lansiquot, 58'), 17. Keston Julien, 19. Morgan Bruce (18.Josh Toussaint, 81st.
Subs not used � 2. Andrew Rullow, 13. Isaiah Garcia, 20. Jabari Brice (GK) Out with injury � 4. Kierron Mason, 9. Nicholas Dillon, 7. Isaiah Hudson.