BEFORE the Soca Warriors' opening match of the 2024/25 Concacaf Nations League A cycle against Honduras on September 6, forward Ryan Telfer urged the team to show no fear in the hostile environment, with caretaker coach Derek King assuring his team would take three points in the contest.
When referee Tori Penso blew her whistle at the end of 90 minutes, Trinidad and Tobago were played off the park at the Estadio Nacional Chelato Ucles in Tegucigalpa, Honduras as they fell to a heavy 4-0 loss.
With an attack-minded 4-4-2 formation which saw the Canadian-based pair of Reon Moore and Ryan Telfer partnered up top, and Andre Rampersad and Dutch-based attacking midfielder Dantaye Gilbert operating in central midfield, T&T had a promising start to the game on the attacking front.
The visitors had nice combination plays in the attacking third involving Gilbert and flanker Real Gill, and also fashioned a couple of early chances. The diminutive Gill flashed over the bar in the 17th minute after a typically enterprising run, with Telfer having a goal-bound shot blocked by a defender two minutes later after Gill found Moore in space outside the area.
Though they showed bravery on the ball in tight spaces in the midfield, the visitors still looked vulnerable at the other end with sloppy giveaways and lapses of concentration at the back.
Midway through the first half, Honduras came into their own and they lifted the game to an intensity T&T seemingly couldn't cope with.
The hosts went into halftime with a 2-0 lead as Alexander Lopez and Kervin Arriaga scored just before the break, but they did send a few warning shots before breaking the deadlock.
In the 20th minute, T&T left-back Andre Raymond was rescued by goalie Denzil Smith after he misjudged the flight of a ball in the area and allowed flanker Edwin Rodriguez to get in behind him. Seconds later, Honduras skipper Antony Lozano curled a right-footed shot just wide of Smith's goal after a giveaway from Rampersad in the midfield.
Known for his shot-stopping, Smith saved brilliantly with his feet in the 36th minute when Rodriguez volleyed a left-side cross from the tricky Lopez.
Three minutes later, Lopez had his moment of glory when he beat Smith with a long-range effort via a deflection from Rampersad. Lopez was a constant thorn in the Soca Warriors' defence, and he turned provider for Arriaga as the latter drilled in a right-footed volley from the edge of the area to make it 2-0 in first-half stoppage-time.
Right back Alvin Jones went down with an injury during the play, and he and his teammates were incensed that Penso allowed the game to continue.
King said his team was organised at both ends of the pitch for the first 35 minutes, and he felt they conceded two "soft goals" before the end of the half.
"I think every time we put down the ball and play and we came into the pockets and stuff I think we created the chances," King told T&T Football Association (TTFA) media.
"I think they were more or less believing in themselves that they could compete with the teams in Concacaf."
From an attacking sense, the visitors did little to trouble Honduras after the break, while they were left wanting defensively again.
Trying to play a high defensive line, T&T's blushes were marginally spared just seconds after the resumption as Rodriguez was adjudged to be offside before slotting past Smith.
In the 54th minute, though, Rodriguez and Honduras successfully breached the Soca Warriors' high line as he calmly tapped in at the far post after Luis Palma beat the offside trap with ease before crossing from the left flank.
Honduras' third goal ushered in a triple change from King as Triston Hodge, Nathaniel James and Noah Powder came in for Gilbert, Moore and Raymond just before the hour mark.
The changes did little to shift the game's momentum, though James and Powder both brought keeper Edrick Menjivar into action with long-range efforts – the Soca Warriors' only two shots on target in the match.
In the 86th minute, substitute David Ruiz stylishly wrapped up the scoring for Honduras when he curled a left-footed shot around Smith's despairing dive after working a one-two with Rubilio Castillo in the T&T half.
Properly outplayed in Tegucigalpa, the Soca Warriors sit bottom of the Nations League group. On September 10, King and his troops will have a chance for redemption when they host French Guiana from 7 pm at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago.
On September 6, French Guiana also went under in their first Nations League match as they lost 1-0 to Nicaragua.
King knows his team can ill-afford another poor showing.
"I have to applaud all the players for their efforts as well...Tuesday (September 10) is a very important game. We need three points and we're playing at home.
"This is international football. We have to stay focused and we have to stay disciplined and have the right attitude. Once we are organised in that way, I think we will get three points."
TEAMS
Trinidad and Tobago (4-2-3-1): 22.Denzil Smith (GK); 16.Alvin Jones, 2.Aubrey David (captain), 17.Justin Garcia, 6.Andre Raymond (3.Triston Hodge 60); 18.Andre Rampersad, 15.Dantaye Gilbert (19.Noah Powder 60); 12.Steffen Yeates (20.Kaïlé Auvray 65), 13.Reon Moore (9.Nathaniel James 60), 11.Real Gill; 7.Ryan Telfer (23.Kevon Woodley 71).
Unused substitutes: 1.Christopher Biggette (GK), 21.Aaron Enill (GK), 4.Daniel Phillips, 5.Leland Archer, 8.Isaiah Lee, 10.Duane Muckette, 14.Shannon Gomez.
Coach: Derek King
Honduras (4-2-1-3): 1.Edrick Menjivar (GK); 13.Maylor Núñez, 2.Denil Maldonado, 4.Luis Vega, 8.Joseph Rosales; 5.Kervin Arriaga, 20.Deybi Flores; 10.Alexander López (12.David Ruiz-Ochoa 66); 16.Edwin Rodríguez, 9.Antony Lozano (captain), (11.Rubilio Castillo 66), 7.Luis Palma (17.Douglas Martinez 66).
Unused substitutes: 18.Marlon Licona (GK), 22.Luis López (GK), 3.Raul Santos, 6.Juan Carlos Obregon, 14.Jesus Batiz, 15.Devron Garcia, 19.Carlos Pineda, 21.Bryan Rochez, 23.Jorge Álvarez.
Coach: Reinaldo Rueda
Referee: Tori Penso
SOURCE: T&T Newsday