Under-20s won’t let Cubans settle

TRINIDAD and Tobago Under-20 football coach Anton Corneal will continue preparations for their return leg match with Cuba next Friday with an afternoon session at the Ato Boldon Stadium today. The TT youngsters need to ensure that they maintain a one-goal advantage having won the first leg 3-2 last weekend in Havana with a performance that Corneal described as “encouraging.” No away goals rule applies in CONCACAF qualifiers. Should TT progress to the next stage, they will then enter the final CONCACAF qualifying round with the other top teams from Central and North America. These will be played from January 12-16 in California, United States according to the dates released by CONCACAF yesterday.

Four teams from CONCACAF will progress to the World Youth Championship next year in the Netherlands. Should TT end up in the group to be staged in the US, they could well end up as one of the top teams to advance to the world stage. Panama and Costa Rica are the other two teams contesting the group. The other group comprises Jamaica, Canada, Mexico and hosts Honduras from which the top two also advance to the world finals. Corneal feels his team can get past the Cubans on Friday. “The first result was a good one away from home. Scoring three goals on the road against what I thought was a good Cuban side, meant a lot to us,” Corneal said.

“They (Cuba) were a confident bunch and they played with purpose but we were able to match that. We were faster to the ball in the second half and they were forced to commit themselves early because they were at home.” He expects the visitors will come all out in the second leg at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella from 7pm. The Under 17s will also meet their Cuban counterparts from 5 pm at the same venue. “They will have to come all out at us and I expect the match will be a close one. We still have some things to correct and hopefully we can close them down and get into the next stage,” Corneal said. Tobago-born midfielder Keon Daniel made an obvious difference to TT’s play in the second half against the Cubans and has been highly rated by national coach Bertille St Clair.

Daniel scored one goal and was instrumental in the other two items scored by Hayden Tinto. There have been calls for the versatile playmaker to join the senior team in training but Corneal, who likens the left-footed player  to Kerwyn “Hardest” Jemmot, feels he still needs to mature before being called up. “He has to become a little more consistent at the youth level first before he could go higher. He did very well when he came on against Cuba but that was in the second half. Ability wise Keon has a great future ahead and should be a real asset once he keeps his focus,” Corneal said.

“He performed the required role exceptionally well in Cuba by coming on and closing down the opposition in the middle but also using his ability to create room and add more fire to the attack,” the coach said. “Right now we are introducing a style of play where we must not allow the opposition any time and room to settle and play. And this is what worked for us in Cuba. It is basically introducing another part to our overall style of play which had been lacking and could play a vital role in making the difference between us and other teams,” Corneal said. Technical Director Lincoln Phillips also recommended the approach, saying it was necessary to be adopted by national teams at all levels.