Trinidad and Tobago have found themselves with a mountainous task to advance to the final playoff spot for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup after suffering a 2-1 defeat after extra time to Suriname in their opening CFU fifth place playoff encounter at the Ato Boldon Stadium on Wednesday night.
Despite a cracker of a strike by midfielder Tyrone Charles in the 81st minute to level the scores at 1 apiece after Guno Kwasie put the visitors ahead in the 76th, T&T failed to gather momentum from there and conceded in the 109th minute as Ivanildo Rozenblad snatched the winner to give Suriname the win.
T&T suffered an early blow when forward Cornell Glen suffered a hamstring injury in the warm up and had to be replaced in the starting team by Akeem Roach while defender Maurice Ford was also ruled out of the 18-man team for the match through injury.
Despite settling before the visitors, T&T failed to capitalise on a couple early looks on goal. And moments before the break, Suriname’s Sorencio Juliaans almost punished the home team with an effort which forced custodian Adrian Foncette to push out for a corner.
Dimitrie Apai then caused an anxious moment for T&T when his shot bounced off the upright in the 54th minute after he was sent through by Juliaans.
Charles had a close try for T&T in the 56th minute and Hughun Hector blasted over soon after.
But with the clock winding down and goals seeming difficult to come by for both sides, Suriname snatched the lead when Kwasie’s shot took a deflection and beat Foncette for a 1-0 lead. Just before substitute Shahdon Winchester got a sniff at goal by his effort was blocked by defender Guillermo Faerber following a delivery by Charles.
Charles would bring the hosts back into the contest. In the 2-1 loss to Nicaragua his free kick from a similar position, just to the top left of the box crashed off the cross bar but time he got it right as his right footed cracked dipped nicely and went in off the underside of the crossbar for a 1-1 scoreline.
Neither team could get the go ahead goal and skipper Carlos Edwards, for all his efforts alongside the likes of Radanfah Abu Bakr and Carlyle Mitchell, were forced to endure another 30 minutes of football. Mitchell would later suffer what turned out to be a MCL injury but laboured on for the remaining minutes after re-entering the field as T&T had already made its three substitutes. He has already been ruled out of Sunday’s contest with Haiti.
T&T did manage a couple further looks at goal but only Rozenblad would get it right as he unleashed a beauty from the edge the area that gave Foncette no chance for the winner.
Abu Bakr had a couple decent tries with the head but without any luck as Suriname held on for the victory.
The result now puts T&T in not only a must win situation against Haiti on Sunday but must also hope that Haiti defeats Suriname on Friday and not by a handsome margin. The playoff winner is determined by the following order –
1.Most Points
2.Best Goal Difference
3.Most Wins
4.Most Wins in regulation time,
5.Most goals scored in regulation time
6.Goals scored away from a designated home game count double between the teams concerned
7.Drawing of Lots
Teams
Trinidad and Tobago: 1.Adrian Foncette; 6.Radanfah Abu Bakr, 11.Carlos Edwards (capt),12.Carlyle Mitchell, 2.Aubrey David; 5.Hashim Arcia (10.Shahdon Winchester 60th),19.Kevan George (Yellow 37), 15.Hughtun Hector; 8.Nathan Lewis (18.Aikim Andrews 68th), 7.Tyrone Charles (4.Curtis Gonzales 91st); 9.Akeem Roach (14.Andre Boucaud 78th).
Subs not used: 21.Glenroy Samuel (GK), 16.Alvin Jones, 20.Trevin Caesar.Injured Out 13.Cornell Glen, 17.Maurice Ford.
Head Coach: Tom Saintfiet.
Suriname: 1.Claidel Kohinor; 15.Miquel Darson, 4.Gilberto Eind (capt), 3.Gillermo Faerber, 5.Guno Kwasie; 7.Mitchell Kisoor (9.Gillian Maatrijk 56th), 14.Sergino Eduard, 8.Bruce Diporedjo (19.Silvion Sedney 107th); 12.Sorencio Juliaans (Yellow 47) (16.Ivanildo Rozenblad 71st); 10.Roxey Fer (18.Galgyto Talea 83rd), 11.Dimitrie Apai.
Subs not Used – 22.Sersinio Profijt (GK), 2.Saverio Adenie, 6.Andwele Baja.
Head Coach: Robert Godeken.
Standings
P W D L F A Pts
Suriname 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
Haiti 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
T&T 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
Video - Saintfiet's Post-Match Comments after 2-1 defeat to Suriname
RELATED NEWS
Suriname register 2-1 upset win over T&T
T&T Newsday Reports.
GUNO KWASIE and Ivanildo Rozenblad found the back of the net for Suriname as they registered a shock 2-1 win, in extra time, over hosts Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday evening, at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.
Action was in the Caribbean Cup Qualification Fifth Round Playoffs, with Haiti as the third team involved.
Suriname will tackle Haiti at the Couva venue today, from 7 pm, and a win will see them progress to the next stage – a two-legged playoff against the fifth-place team from this month’s Copa Centroamericana, for the last spot in the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Under the competition format, a winner must be decided in each game (the final game will feature T&T against Haiti on Sunday at Couva).
But the Tom Saintfiet-coached T&T squad must hope for a Haiti victory to have a glimmer of hope of advancing to the Gold Cup.
Tyrone Charles equalised for the hosts with a magnificent freekick, in the 82nd minute, but Suriname, ranked 150th in the FIFA rankings (72 places lower than T&T ), were not to be denied as Rozenblad netted in the 109th minute to record their first international win over T&T since a 1-0 result on May 5 1985.
Saintfiet suffered a major blow as veteran, but injury-prone striker Cornell Glen had to be withdrawn during the pre-game warmups with a hamstring problem (he was replaced by rookie Akeem Roach), but the recently-appointed coach did not help with cause with baffling tactical decisions, especially after Kwasie broke the deadlock in the 76th.
The first half was a scrappy affair, though T&T centre-back Carlyle Mitchell could have done better with a header, off Charles’ corner, in the 40th, while TT goalkeeper Adrian Foncette reacted brilliantly to deny a low right-footed shot from midfielder Mitchell Kisoor, three minutes later.
Striker Dimitrie Apai, Suriname’s lone overseas-based player (he is a member of W Connection), got a through ball from Sorencio Juliaans and, with only Foncette to beat, struck the post with a left-footed effort – 10 minutes into the second half, while Apai’s club captain Hughtun Hector (64th) and former clubmate Shahdon Winchester (75th) missed their moments to put the hosts ahead.
However, left-back Kwasie gave the visitors a deserved lead, taking a ball from Sergino Edward and, with opposing full-back and T&T captain Carlos Edwards backing off, he drilled a left-footed shot which deflected off Mitchell and wrong-footed Foncette.
Charles responded with a superbly- taken freekick, from 30 metres out, which curled over the wall and flew to the top-right corner of Claidel Kohinor’s net, after substitute Shahdon Winchester was bundled over by Bruce Diporedjo.
However, Saintfiet took centre stage with his tactical moves, firstly pushing Hector from his accustomed central midfielder role to join Winchester up front, when Roach was removed in the 79th; then inserting defender Curtis Gonzales (who came on for a tiring Charles) in extra time as a right-winger.
But the most stunning were a hobbling Mitchell as a forward, a position he has not played for almost 10 years, with Edwards, Abu Bakr, Gonzales and Aubrey David in a reshuffled back-four.
With the defence at sea, Rozenblad fired home his team’s winner, from range, after getting in front of Kevan George to take a pass from Apai.