TT men’s hockey team advance to semis

The game, which was basically the battle for second spot after Canada played unbeaten in Group B, started slowly as both teams were cautious in their approach .

The best opportunity of the opening quarter fell to TT ’s Shaquille Daniel who had a glorious chance to take the lead with virtually the last shot of the quarter but he slapped it over the uprights .

Goalkeepers Rodrigo Faustino (Brazil) and TT ’s Andrey Rocke made excellent saves to keep the scoreline at 0-0 .

The second period began scrappy as both teams struggled to string passes together especially in the attacking end. TT then pressed higher up the pitch and were rewarded almost immediately when Marcus Pascal won the ball in the penalty area and guided it home in the 26th minute to give the “Calypso Stickmen” a 1-nil lead .

TT looked more assured in the third quarter as they dominated the early stages with the most capped TT player ever Kwandwane Browne still showing his worth on the team by controlling the game from defence to attack .

Then, in the 41st minute, Brazil were given a penalty corner in which Bruno Sousa scored to level the game at 1-1. At that point in time shouts of “Don’t lose your focus guys” were heard from coach Glen Francis .

The 17-year-old Teague Marcano tapped in the winner from close range in the 47th minute to send the Caribbean side in the semi-final round against world number one ranked Argentina tomorrow from 5 pm .

Marcano said after the match, “It was a hard-fought win, we have been preparing for games like this. We stuck to tactics and kept pushing together.” Commenting on what it means to be on the national team he said, “I have a lot of family members who were on the national team so I have to continue to legacy to represent TT