Hart worried by patchy Warriors display

TT stay atop the group with 11 points, while the United States, who crushed St Vincent and the Grenadines 6-0 in Kingstown earlier yesterday, are second with 10 points.

“Overall, I thought we played with a lot of nerves,” said Hart, during the post-match media conference. “I thought we were sloppy, it’s almost like we didn’t want the ball and we didn’t move it effectively.” Carlos Ruiz scored a pair for Guatemala, while Joevin Jones responded with a double for the TT team, commonly known as the “Soca Warriors”.

“Guatemala scored a goal on the back post which I was a little bit disappointed because most of what we worked on as a team was the sort of runs they made coming in on the back post and us being aware of it,” said Hart.

“We talked about the wide players not doing their defensive duties and the two central midfielders getting stretched,” said Hart, “and because of that, Guatemala was getting space between the lines. We talked about utilising the counter attack knowing they had to come forward.” Hart was also disappointed with the urgency shown by the “Warriors” at various stages.

“The biggest discussion we had was really to address the lack of urgency. We lacked that sort of impetus and urgency at times.” He went on to state, “I don’t think it was complacency. I just think we started the game well.

No team dominates the entire game so in their period of domination what we needed to do was get the ball and make them run a little bit.” Ruiz put Guatemala ahead in the 37th, as he met a low cross from the right by Cristian Jimenez and slotted the ball to the right of goalkeeper Marvin Phillip.

But Joevin Jones equalised on the stroke of half-time, finishing off a breakaway move started by TT captain and his unrelated namesake Kenwyne Jones, with a left-footed shot through the legs of Guatemala custodian Paulo Moota.

The hosts took the lead in the 62nd - Kevin Molino found Joevin Jones on the left and the midfielder left Cristian Jimenez for dead before, with the outside of his left boot, he buried a left-footer past the diving Moota.

Jimenez was shown a red card by Panamanian referee John Pitti in the 84th for taking down a goal-bound Joevin Jones, but another defensive lapse resulted in Ruiz’s second goal, in the 86th.

Khaleem Hyland allowed Marco Pappa too much room in the middle and the midfielder’s shot was saved by Phillip but Ruiz tapped home the rebound.

With tensions rising at the venue, the TT defence held firm, and booked their ticket to the Final Round, which will begin in November.

TT will conclude their Group C phase with an away contest against the United States at Jacksonville, Florida on Tuesday while Guatemala will entertain cellar-placed St Vincent and the Grenadines at Guatemala City