A 43rd minute penalty was enough to see host Venezuela scrape pass Trinidad & Tobago Under 20 team 1-0 in the Hexagonal Soccer U-20 tournament in Venezuela yesterday.
Jonathan Del Valle scored his second straight penalty for the Venezuelan A team with his first coming in a 6-1 thrashing to Brazil in their opening game. Del Valle's decisive goal gave the Venezuelans some hope as they moved up to fourth place and a chance to finish the tournament with some pride.
As for the T&T team they definitely had nothing to be ashamed of as head coach Zoran Vranes rested a few starting players in utility Joe Public player Daneil Cyrus, midfield general Sean De Silva, Uriah Bentick and captain Leston Paul and still, the second string T&T team managed to hold their own against the stronger of the two Venezuelan side in it's narrow 1-0 defeat.
Trinidad & Tobago now sits in fifth place one spot above basement team Venezuela B on a better goal average. Both Costa Rica and Brazil holds the place of honor for the time being with two victories each and same on goal difference.
Tomorrow T&T will come up against Paraguay from 5:15pm and making a return from suspension will be left-back Akeem Adams who was red carded in his first game and had to sit out yesterday's match. The battle should be an interesting one as both teams are in the same group in the FIFA Under 20 World Championship in Egypt in September, 2009.
Team line-ups:
Venezuela A: Rafael Romo, Francisco Fajardo, Carlos Salazar, Francisco Flores (c), Guillermo Ramírez (Carlos Fernandez), Jonathan Del Valle (Pierre Pluccino), Mauricio Parra, Víctor Pérez (Agnel Flores), Oscar Rojas, Juan Manuel Morales (Henry Pernía), Adrián Lezama (Edwar Labastida).
Coach: César Farías.
Trinidad & Tobago: Jesse Fullerton, Mikeil Williams, Curtis Gonzalez (Daneil Cyrus), Robert Primus (Uriah Bentick), Jevon Morris, Aubrey David (Sean Da Silva), Chike Sullivan, Jean-Luc Rochford (Leston Paul), Marcus Joseph, Stephen Knox, Juma Jamal Clarence.
Coach: Zoran Vranes.
Standings
P W D L F A P
Costa Rica 2 2 0 0 9 2 6
Brazil 2 2 0 0 9 2 6
Paraguay 2 1 0 1 2 3 3
Venezuela A 2 1 0 1 2 6 3
Trinidad & Tobago 2 0 0 2 1 5 0
Venezuela B 2 0 0 2 1 6 0
T&T Team From
Goalkeepers
Jesse Fullerton, Glenroy Samuel.
Defenders
Mikeil Williams, Robert Primus, Jevon Morris, Aubrey David, Daneil Cyrus, Uriah Bentick, Curtis Gonzalez, Sheldon Bateau, Akeem Adams.
Midfielders
Chike Sullivan, Marcus Joseph, Sean Da Silva, Leston Paul, Jean-Luc Rochford.
Forwards
Jamal Clarence, Stephen Knox, Qian Grosvenor, Trent Lougheed.