T&T U-17s go under to Ghana in Korea

The mood was obviously somber as Anton Corneal’s last words before the players stepped off the bus was “Remember we have two more games and the only time you fail is when you fail to keep trying.”

Certainly that is what Leston Paul and his teammates will have to do as they try to pick themselves up and have a go at Colombia in Thursday’s second game in Cheonan. The Colombians earlier rallied back to hold Germany 3-3 in the opening game of the double header.

The highlight for T&T on the day was a superb free kick strike by United Petrotrin midfielder Stephan Campbell from about 30 metres out in the 80th minute. Before that though, T&T struggled with the pace of the Africans and after holding out for some time, also managing chances on goal through speedy striker Daniel Joseph, T&T conceded in quick succession to be 3-0 down at half time.

With about 60 odd T&T fans in the stands including FIFA Vice President Jack Warner, who met the teams before kick off, Corneal’s team conceded in the 12th minute when Ghana broke down the right and Ransford Osei slotted home from close up to leave goalie Glenroy Samuel helpless between the uprights.

Then Osei doubled the lead a minute before half time and Saddick Adams added a third a minute into added on first half time to cushion Ghana 3-0 up at the break making full use of given room on the right flank.

T&T tried to penetrate with CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh strike duo Daniel  Joseph and Stephen Knox making some dangerous runs but T&T couldn’t connect well within the 18 yard box. Defender Robert Primus also had failed to connect well with a close header in the second half. Then after Knox went down with ten minutes left, Campbell, who hit one low forcing the goalie to save moments earlier, connected well and left goalkeeper Joseph Addo helpless in goal sparking some celebrations from the T&T faithful in Korea and chants of “Go Warriors Go and Ole” before a crowd of 11,521 fans even though organizers had reported an expected near sell out.

Campbell’s goal was maybe the best of the game but Ghana weren’t finished though and English based striker Kelvin Bossman of Reading FC snatched a fourth item five minutes from the end. T&T also had a final attempt on goal with substitute Marcus Joseph hitting one which was deflected just wide of the upright.

T&T had 14 shots on goal as opposed to 22 by Ghana who also narrowly edge T&T in possession 55 percent to 45 managed 9 offsides and stayed head 53 percent to 47 in possession at the final whistle. T&T outnumbered their opponents on corners 7-6 and free kicks 4-1, one which resulted in a goal.

The team will have one recovery session in the morning and Doctor Mario John will treat a few players who received knocks in the match but with no serious injury concerns. Leston Paul and the boys will now seek to put the loss behind them and try to come better against the Colombians in a couple day’s time.

Corneal said Ghana were clearly the better team but wasn’t entirely despondent over the result.

“I thought we dug ourselves in a hole in the first half and a lot of it was us not respecting some parts of the game. Going in 3-0 is very difficult to come out of.

"We didn’t get a goal and we squandered one or two opportunities. We just have to convert as it changes the whole picture of a game if it happens,” Corneal told TTFF Media.

He added that Ghana exhibited qualities that made them two- time champions.

“They are one of the better teams in the tournament and we have to be a little bit realistic. We had chances in the game and it wasn’t just one sided. I hope we can learn from the game to go into our other two games.

“We should have known from the beginning that we could always create opportunities. We still have to learn more in terms of respecting another team’s ability. Ghana ran off the ball well and at times we didn’t track back. We did it a bit better in the first half.

You don’t want ever to question as a coach but just look back at the first goal. It’s not something we will talk about though because they scored three other goals. It’s not the only reason we lost,” he added in reference to a dubious no call for offside when Ghana opened the scoring.

Joseph had a couple good runs on goal in the first half as too did Knox. But it wasn’t good enough.

“The ball needs to end up in the back of the net. We have worked on it so much and we need to convert… it changes the atmosphere of the game and puts the next team back into a defensive mode. I hope now we will have the confidence to know that we can play against these teams they do realize that if they put the proper effort out there then they can compete and we will hope to do that in the next two games.,” Corneal added. Goalscorer Campbell said he thought the goal was well taken but could hardly find reason to celebrate.

Final Score:

T&T 1 (Stephan Campbell 80th) v Chana 4 (Ransford Osei 12th, 44th, Sadick Adams 46th+, Kelvin Bossman 85th).

Trinidad & Tobago: - 21.Glenroy Samuel, 5.Akeem Adams, 12.Robert Primus, 17.Daneil Cyrus, 9.Aaron Maund, 18.Micah Lewis (13.Stephan Campbell 66th), 15.Chike Sullivan, 6.Leston Paul (capt), 14.Jean Luc Rochford, 10.Stephen Knox, 11.Daniel Joseph (Marcus Joseph 78th).

Ghana: - 1.Joseph Addo, 3.Paul Addo (capt), 4.Daniel Opare, 5.Francis Boadi, 6.Tetteh Nortey, 7.Abeiku Quansah (17.Richard Mpong 53rd), 8.Enoch Adu (19.Abdul Naza Alhassan 77th), 9.Sadick Adams (18.Kelvin Bossman 76th), 10.Ransford Osei, 11.Ishame Yartey, 12.Philip Boampong.

Cautions: - Paul Addo (GHA) 38', Glenroy Samuel (TRI) 40', Leston Paul (TRI) 88'

Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) v Statistics Ghana (GHA)

14 Shots 22
5 Shots on goal 7
1 Goals 4
10 Fouls Committed 19
19 Fouls Suffered 10
7 Corner kicks 6
4 Free kicks 1
0 / 0 Penalty Kicks (Goals/Shots) 0 / 0
0 Offsides 9
0 Own goals 0
2 Yellow cards 1
0 Red Cards 0
21 Actual playing time 23
47% Possession (%) 53%

Match - Date - Venue / Stadium - Time - Attendance
12 - 20 August 2007 - CHEONAN / Cheonan Sports Complex - 20:00 - 11521