Trinidad and Tobago’s senior men’s team return home later on Thursday following Wednesday night’s 2-0 defeat to Mexico in Toluca as both teams used the exercise for preparations ahead of upcoming competitions.
T&T head coach Dennis Lawrence will take his squad into residential camp on October 7th for the CONCACAF Nations League fixture with Honduras which takes place on Thursday October 10th at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on a 7:00pm kick off.
Lawrence spoke after Wednesday’s affair in Toluca, describing the exercise as a monumental task against the confederation’s top ranked nation.
“It was very difficult for the boys to come to Toluca and play against what I see as not just the number one team in CONCACAF but a world phenomenal football nation regardless of who was on the pitch on the night,” Lawrence told TTFA Media. “I was later genuinely proud of the players for the way they approached the game, showing commitment and dedication in such conditions and environment. Now we head back home and go into camp on the 7th where I’ll have availability of all the boys from abroad and home to prepare for the next match against Honduras.
“I felt in the first half we gave them too much respect by playing too deep and not getting close enough to put pressure on the ball and the biggest crime we were committing was giving away the ball too easily everytime we got possession of it
“In the second half we managed to get on the ball a bit better. We didn’t cause Mexico major problems in attach but we managed to keep our shape and discipline for longer periods and i was pleased with the group for the effort in that regards,” he continued.
“I was pleased with players like Cyrus who only got off the plane late on Tuesday from flight from Dubai and I know he made an error in the game which cost us but he showed a lot of dedication to keep going. We had a couple home-based players who showed that they definitely want to be part of the team for the next couple games and that was pleasing. For the group on a whole it was an experience they will definitely take in good stride going forward.
Lawrence summed it up by saying, “These boys faced a mammoth task and they stuck in and showed some real determination to go down 2-0 and then come back and manage the game in the second half and restrict them. The game gave us a good opportunity to have players like Nathan Lewis on the pitch after he hadn’t played a full 90 minutes since the US game (Gold Cup) and there was was Aikim Andrews, Jameel Perry and Judah Garcia who had an opportunity to get minutes in this type of situation. It was good to see these players in this kind of environment.”
Lawrence is expected back in Trinidad on the weekend having remained in Toluca with player Nion Lammy who had to be hospitalised for treatment after falling ill during training on Tuesday. “There was a situation where Nion Lammy had to be taken to hospital and kept for observations after he encountered some difficulty during the latter part of the training session on Tuesday which meant he was not available for the match. We are hopeful he will be cleared to be released on Friday and we will both travel home on Saturday,” Lawrence said.
Stats
Goals: México: José Juan Macías 22’ nd Ricardo Angulo 30’.
Trinidad and Tobago: 1.- M. Phillip; 5.- D. Cyrus; 9.- C. Thomas (16.- K. Adriel al 46’) (10.- J. García al 75’); 12.- C. Mitchell; 13.- A. Andrews; 14.- D. James (6.- C. González al 79’); 15.- J. Perry (3.- I. García al 64’); 17.- R. Russell; 19.- D. Muckette; 23.- L. Paul y 27.- N. Lewis (8.- L. Aaron al 46’).
Head Coach – D. Lawrence
México: 1.- R. Gudiño; 22.-A. Mozo; 14.- I. Govea; 6.- J. Angulo (24.- J. Vásquez al 62’); 3.- C. Calderón (4.- G. Arteaga al 46’); 11.- I. Rodríguez; 17.- S. Córdova (15.- F. Venegas al 73’); 18.- E. Aguirre; 5.- P. Yrizar (8.- J. González al 62’); 10.- J. Macías (9.- J. Godínez al 73’) y 20.- R. Angulo (7.- J. Torres al 46’).
Head Coach – G. Martino.