Trinidad and Tobago national football team head coach Francisco Maturana admitted to disenchantment after Saturday's 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw against Guatemala at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain.
In the post-match press conference, reporters questioned Maturana on his team selection and, in particular, the omission of former 2006 World Cup midfielder Chris Birchall. The Colombian, who was thought to be easily influenced in matters of team selection early in his term, cut a defiant pose.
"The best eleven players were on the field," he said, though an interpreter, to dismiss the claims of Birchall and record national scorer, Stern John. "(All questions) should be on players who were on the field."
But, when tested, Maturana was not keen to talk about players who took part either. He assured the Trinidad and Tobago public that he was not shy to privately criticise his players, though.
"I do not want to judge individual players in public," he said. "I was once a football player and, if a coach criticised me in public, I would tell him where to go
"But privately I will (criticise). I have already spoken to some players between when the game ended and now."
He initially declined the opportunity to explain his halftime substitutions of Carlos Edwards and Densill Theobold although he later suggested that he hoped Anthony Wolfe and Andre Toussaint would bring more aggression in trying to wrestle ball possession from Guatemala.
"I have the privilege and responsibility to always try to do what I think is best," said Maturana. "Sometimes I might be wrong but I stand by my changes."
 The Warriors are second in Group C, two points behind the United States but three points clear of Guatemala and four ahead of bottom placed Cuba. There are four remaining matches including their fixture away to the US on Wednesday. The top two teams progress to the final CONCACAF qualifying round.
"The group we are in is extremely even," said Maturana. "(But) this draw does not affect our strategy (against the US)."
Maturana was complimentary to Guatemala, who played throughout with a lone striker, Carlos Ruiz, intermittently supported by three attacking midfielders.
"We played against a good team," he said. "I want to compliment (Guatemala coach) Ramon Maradiaga for planting a solid team on the field. It was not an easy game but we had more chances to score."
Maradiaga was not nearly as diplomatic. He sought to convince the media that Trinidad and Tobago captain and midfielder Dwight Yorke, who set up the lone goal for Keon Daniel, was a defensive liability that Guatemala sought to exploit.
The Honduras-born coach also blamed Yorke for delaying the replacement of their injured goalkeeper Ricardo Trigueno in the 67th minute by insisting to the Panamanian referee, Roberto Moreno, that Trigueno should leave the field on his feet. The suggestion was that, for the four minutes Trigueno lay flat on his back, Yorke was bizarrely debating the medical diagnosis of the Guatemalan team doctor.
Maradiaga criticised the referee too for not allowing substitute goalkeeper Luis Molina more time to prepare before entering the fray although Molina warmed up from the halftime interval with the other substitutes, had the four minutes that Trigueno lay on the ground and took an additional two minutes to do jumping exercises.
Daniel beat Molina with a thumping strike off the underside of the bar in the 85th minute although, ironically, Guatemalan defender Carlos Gallardo fashioned an equalizer in the five minutes of injury time.
"I can understand disenchantment (at the result)," said Maturana. "I am a bit disenchanted myself because I really wanted to win. (But) this is World Cup qualifying and, at this stage, nothing comes easy."
Maturana knows a thing or two about World Cup qualifying games and building a victorious team. The Colombian insisted, politely but firmly, that he was not about to implement a suggestion box.