TT coach preaches focus after big win

David Mcdougall scored a beaver- trick while Kevon Woodley grabbed a hat-trick and Chad Appoo added one more for the Benny Astorga-coached team.

TT play US Virgin Islands in their second game today at 2:45pm and then face the United States at 9pm tomorow.

“We are delighted to start the tournament on a winning note.

The men went out there and expressed themselves and put on a strong showing which as a coach I am pleased with,” Astorga told TT FA Media.

“But it’s far from finished for us. We haven’t achieved anything because our goal is to advance to the last stage and go onto qualify for the World Cup.

“We have two more games to win in the group phase and then we can start to focus on finishing the task,” he added.

McDougall dedicated his four goals to his mother Susan who passed away while he was on duty for the TT team at the Qualifiers in Bahamas in 2013.

“This win and my performance is dedicated to my mom.

I suffered the pain of losing her during the tournament in 2013 and everything here is in memory of her,” McDougall said.

“Right now we are a family here and our coach Benny is the perfect father for our family.

We are like brothers on this team and that spirit and attitude along with the great assistance from the TT FA has helped us to where we are now. We are now focused on keeping up the winning ways and advancing to the next phase and then to the World Cup,” he added.

Woodley who has been in prolific form for TT in their various competitions, added: “We came here with one mission and that is to win matches. We have gotten one game out of the way and now we have to keep it up and keep going forward.” Three-time CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship winners USA recovered from a slow start to hammer US Virgin Islands 8-1 in their Group C opener. The home nation sits top of Group A after the opening round of matches and had a Lesley St Fleur hat-trick to thank as they picked up maximum points in front a vibrant home crowd against a Guyana side making their first appearance at the tournament.

Mexico too avoided an upset on the opening day as they beat Guadeloupe 9-2 – the highest ranked nation in the CONCACAF region battling back from 2-1 behind thanks to a hat-trick from Jose Ramon Maldonado Alonso and a Fausto Jair Aleman Palacios brace.

Elsewhere in Group C, TT joined USA on maximum points.

David McDougall and Kevon Woodley provided the inspiration with seven of their side’s eight goals, as Antigua and Barbuda were left unable to cope on a difficult opening-day outing, while Marc Jankovic’s four-goal haul helped Canada edge past Barbados 6-4.

In a tight contest that saw both Group B sides match one another for long spells, it was the rangy Canadian forward who made the difference, scoring four times along with further efforts from Danilo Pessoa and Maxime Leconte.

Belize saw off a spirited effort from Jamaica to claim a 2-0 win on penalties after ending 5-5 at the culmination of normal time in their Group A meeting.

Jamaica battled back from 4-0 down to level thanks largely to a Daemion Benjamin hat-trick but, when the clash went to penalties, Belize held their nerve as Marlon Meza and Jermaine Jones scored from the spot.