T&T Under-20 Men’s footballers closed off their three-match campaign at the Guadeloupe six-nation tournament with a come from behind 3-1 victory over French Guiana on Monday afternoon.
Midfielder John-Paul Rochford came off the bench to score a double and assist in the other goal which lead Russell Latapy’s troops to their first win of the three-match tour. The win followed 2-0 and 2-1 defeats by Costa Rica and Martinique at the weekend.
French Guiana took a 20th-minute lead before Rochford equalised in the 46th minute. Shaqkeem Joseph put the junior Soca Warriors ahead with a 60th-minute item, while Rockford delivered the lethal blow with his goal six minutes later.
Costa Rica claimed the title by defeating Haiti 4-3 on penalties, following a 1-1 draw in regulation time in the Final. And in an earlier game, Martinique got the better of Guadeloupe 2-1 in the third/fourth place match.
Afterwards Latapy, the T&T coach said he was pleased to have come away with a win in the closing match, but noted there is much room for improvement. “We started with some players who hadn’t played as much over the first two games, as I wanted to give every player some time to gain experience and show what they are capable of,” Latapy said.
“We didn’t pass the ball as well as we can but I thought we had the better of the first half, creating a few chances on goal. Another lapse in concentration saw us concede and we had to come back and work ourselves back into the match which I thought we did well in by showing character and taking charge of the match."
“With the changes at halftime we started to take control of the midfield and created better chances which we took with two really good finishes,” Latapy explained further, adding there were a few positives to take from the tournament.
The T&T team will continue preparations with the CONCACAF Qualifiers set for November.
“We could take away a few things which are obviously the experience for the team at this level. Players are now understanding that international football has some key elements which include hard work, desire to give everything and tactical awareness. It’s not only about the technical ability which we are fortunate to possess but with still work to do to get up to the level at which we want to be at,” Latapy concluded.