T&T Under-20 football team coach Russell Latapy has lamented the attitude shown by his squad on Friday, during their 3-0 win over the United States Virgin Islands in their final Group A game, in the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship, at the IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida, US.
Nickel Orr, Isaiah Lee and Che Benny were the goal-getters for T&T, who failed in their bid to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Poland.
In the six-team group, T&T finished with nine points from five matches, with the hosts topping the group with a 100-percent record.
“Honestly when we left home I said to myself if we can come out with seven points then I would be very happy so I think it’s a plus altogether that we came out with three victories after five games,” said Latapy. “But (on Friday) I was very disappointed with the performance and in the attitude of the players.”
The 50-year-old Latapy continued, “So far I have given them a lot of credit for the way they went about their business but (on Friday) there were just really bad performances and I said to them in no uncertain terms in the dressing room that that’s unacceptable when you are representing the national team.
“I know the preparations were not what we hoped for and it was going to be difficult against the US and having to come back from a 6-1 defeat but (on Friday) I was just looking for good attitude, getting the ball down and the move the ball about.
It’s not about scoring a lot of goals alone but it’s about doing things the right way and the process in which we go forward and the way we want to play football.
“But in my mind (on Friday), I called it schoolboy football. Everybody was trying to play for themselves, taking too much touches on the ball. It was just a poor performance all-round. I think that attitude, desire, that they showed in the (other) games was missing. I just was not happy with what I saw,” ended the ex-national men’s team playmaker, captain and coach.
The T&T Under-20 squad are set to return home tomorrow.