TT stopped 2-1 in the land of the Pharoahs

A second-half goal by Birmingham City striker Stern John capped off a fighting performance by Trinidad and Tobago’s senior team as they were narrowly defeated 2-1 by Egypt at the Arab Contractors Stadium, Cairo yesterday. Playing before a vibrant crowd of around 13,000 which included a small group of TT fans with the red, white and black flag, the Angus Eve-captained team came back strongly to make a game of it after conceding two early  second half goals. John had given the visitors a chance of coming away with at least a draw when he met a right side cross from Carlos Edwards and chest trapped  before hitting home with his left foot from close up past goalkeeper Esam Hadary.

Playing against a well-knit Egypt side, TT, though forced back  in the early stages against a quick running Egypt outfit, were never out of the contest and coach Bertille St Clair was left with a lot of positives from the encounter. St Clair, although still disappointed with a defeat, was satisfied with certain areas of his players’ performance which will be shown on local television later this month. “It was a decent match for us and while there is still work  to do, there was some positive aspects which gave us some cause for satisfaction,” St Clair said after the match. “We gave up a soft goal but giving a good run away to Egypt and forcing a goal back says something about the character of the team.

This match gave us a lot to build on. There are obviously some mistakes for us to correct and again this shows that these are the type of matches  we need to play on a regular basis. We will be back in training and aiming to get it right before the campaign kicks off in June,” he added. TT started with both Carlos Edwards and Brent Rahim in midfield in a 3-5-2 system, opting to start Wrexham striker Hector Sam alongside John with the plan to throw the speedy Cornell Glenn into the attack in the second half. The Egyptians had the better of the early tries on goal with goalscorer Osama Hosan heading  over bar inside the fifth minute and then veteran Hosam Hosan forcing Rahim to scramble away a dangerous cross from inside the six yard box soon after.

Tall defender Dennis Lawrence had TT’s first worthwhile attempt on goal when his header from Eve’s left side free kick went wide just after the quarter-hour mark. Mohamed Treka and Osama Hasan had further tries on Shaka Hislop’s goal but it was TT who enjoyed the better of the closing stages in the first half, going close to scoring on the three occasions just before the interval whistle. Glenn entered in place of Sam and his presence brought some life to the TT attack. Edwards served one from the right and John connected on a half volley forcing Hadary to pull off an excellent one handed save to give TT a corner. Then Glenn met another right-side delivery but his header from deep inside the box brought another fine reflex save from Hadary. 

TT were peppering the Egyptian goal at that point as Eve curled a free kick in from the left but Lawrence’s long legs couldn’t force the ball home and the host scrambled to safety. Strong midfield play by Anthony Rougier and courageous defending by Marvin Andrews, Brent Sancho and Lawrence with Hislop doing his fair share kept TT in touch with the opposition. But game swung again as the second half commenced  and Treka was the one getting the reason to celebrate. First he directed an effort over bar but made up in the 60th minute when he collected a loose clearance and saw his shot take a deflection on its way past Hislop. TT countered soon after the restart when a decent build up led to Rahim centring from the right but John was heavily policed deep in the box and the ball was pushed out for a corner.  

Six minutes later Egypt struck a second time when a lapse in concentration at the back resulted in a free kick to Egypt which caught the TT defence flatfooted as Abdel Haly headed home from a left side free kick by  Tarek Sayed. TT tried to hit back a minute later when Rahim centred again from the right but John’s run to goal was cut out by a quickly advancing Hadary. Eve and company didn’t hang their heads though and when John struck, there was that little sensing that the TT players would be back into the proceedings but they had only a creditable performance to take back home.

TT’s next assignment is on May 23 when a clash with Iraq in London is on the cards. The overseas-based pros return to London today while the rest of the TT contingent will overnight before arriving home tomorrow. TT: Shaka Hislop, Brent Sancho, Dennis Lawrence, Marvin Andrews, Stokely Mason, Carlos Edwards, Anthony Rougier, Brent Rahim (Anton Pierre, 75th), Angus Eve, Stern John Hector Sam (Cornell Glenn, 38th (Kerry Baptiste, 89th)