Trinidad and Tobago’s Senior Men’s Team suffered a 4-0 defeat to Peru in Monday’s International Friendly at the Estadio Nacional in Lima.
Taking the field for the first of their three friendlies over an eleven-day period, the “Warriors” were captained by Belgium-based midfielder Khaleem Hyland and included debutant defender Weslie John in a line up that listed Marvin Phillip in goal, with a back four of Daneil Cyrus, Aubrey David, Radanfah Abu Bakr and John, midfielders Sean De Silva, Hughtun Hector, Levi Garcia and Leston Paul with Willis Plaza up front.
Peru had three debutants in their team including PSV Eindhoven forward Luis da Silva.
The ‘Warriors” would have been satisfied heading into the half time break at scoreless but they conceded cheaply within a four- minute span late in the half with Christian Cueva opening the scoring in the 36th and Luiz Da Silva doubling the advantage in the 40th to leave the hosts on a high before a strong home crowd that came out to see their team prior to its Copa America Centenario appearance next month.
Moments after T&T went a whisker away from pulling a goal back when David’s effort struck the post, the hosts tripled their lead when Edison Flores punished T&T at the back and hit past Phillip on his near right post. And a penalty was converted by Cristian Benavente in injury time.
To break the scoreless deadlock in the first half, Cueva beat Phillip with a downward header from Oscar Vilchez’s right side cross.
Soon after, Da Silva, who plays with PSV Eindhoven, slipped Abu Bakr before clinically hitting low past Phillip after the T&T defence failed to sufficient pressure the ball.
T&T’s best chance at goal came in the 14th minute when Garcia beat two men on the left before trying to chip the Peru goalkeeper but under the ball too much to send his effort over the bar.
Hart made several changes in the second half introducing Shahdon Winchester and Tristan Hodge early in the second half. Both players had decent moments with Winchester just failing to get off a shot on time after making his way into the box. Marcus Joseph also came off the bench, and had an effort go wide of the near right post, while Curtis Gonzalez, Andre Boucaud and Jomal Williams also got playing time in the second half.
Both Hector and Cyrus left the field with injuries and head coach Stephen Hart said he was unable to say the extent of it. T&T defender Yohance Marshall and Jabloteh forward Nathan Lewis were also unable to take part due to injuries and Abu Bakr will miss Friday’s encounter against Uruguay with the straight red.
Hart said in his post-match comments that he was displeased with the manner in which T&T suffered the loss.
“I think in the first half we were naive defensively and even when we did win the ball, we were giving it away cheaply and putting ourselves in a situation where we were constantly defending which was tiring,” Hart told TTFA Media.
“Overall we struggled to deal with their passing and their movement. All of their goals with the exception of the penalty were preventable and we need to be better in all aspects of the game to improve as we move on.
“ In the second half with the substitutions, we put the ball on the ground and we played a more possession game with shorter passing. With a bit of luck we could have had a goal. But we were still out of the game physically and consequently mentally and technically. We really struggled at times to contain Peru and we will need to focus better in our other matches to improve this aspect.
“We were losing the first and second balls and physically we looked outmatched. But at the end of the day these games are an evaluation of individuals. In the first half far too many individuals were not performing up to the standard but the second half saw a better performance. Unfortunately we could five players out of the next game with injury and suspension. But we will regroup and prepare for the next one,” Hart concluded.
Team Doctor Terence Babwah said Marshall and Lewis were nursing hamstring strains with Cyrus suffering a groin strain in Monday’s match and Hector a heel contusion. He said it was likely Hector and Lewis would recover sufficiently in time for Friday’s match versus Uruguay.
Teams
T&T – Marvin Phillip (GK); 5.Daneil Cyrus (3.Triston Hodge, 48’), 17.Weslie John, 6.Radanfah Abu Bakr 2.Aubrey David; 13.Leston Paul (23.Jomal Williams 74’), 8.Khaleem Hyland, 7.Hughtun Hector (9.Marcus Joseph 67’), 11.Willis Plaza (10.Shahdon Winchester 48’). 12.Sean De Silva (14.Andre Boucaud 56’),16.Levi Garcia (19.Curtis Gonzales 86’);
Subs not used – 2.Adrian Foncette, 4.Andre Ettienne, 20.Makesi Lewis, 25.Alvin Jones.
Injured – Nathan Lewis, Yohance Marshall
Coach – Stephen Hart
Peru : 1.Pedro Gallese (GK); 2.Alberto Rodriguez (17.Luis Abram,69’), 4.Renzo Revoredo, 15.Christian Ramos 6.Miguel Trauco (22.Jair Cespedes 82’); 16.Oscar Vilchez (19.Yoshimar Yorun 56’), 5.Adan Balbin (13.Renato Tapia 55); 10.Christian Cueva, 7.Luiz Da Silva, 20.Edison Flores (18.Cristian Benavente 57’); 21.Alejandro Hohberg (14.Armando Alfageme 70’).
Coach: Ricardo Gareco