Gill and Frederick look for stronger showing on Monday

Gill and Frederick look for stronger home performance against Antigua and Barbuda

Trinidad and Tobago’s men team resumed training at the Larry Gomes Stadium on Saturday morning as Derek King’s men turned their attention to Monday’s second leg Concacaf Nations League Play-in against Antigua and Barbuda at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

The national team arrived back in Port of Spain on Friday afternoon after a four-hour delay to its flight out of Antigua.

Thursday’s 3–2 win in St John’s gives Trinidad and Tobago a one-goal advantage heading into the return leg, with a place in the March 2027 Concacaf Gold Cup Play-In at stake.

Canada-based duo Andre Rampersad and Ryan Telfer have both returned to Halifax Wanderers and are unavailable for the second encounter with US-based midfielder Michel Poon-Angeron joining Derek King’s squad. Poon-Angeron took part in Saturday morning’s session. Goalkeeper Denzil Smith is captaining the team in Rampersad’s absence.

Real Gill, who scored in the first leg, said after training that it felt good to be back on the scoresheet for Trinidad and Tobago, adding that the squad left St John’s knowing it was capable of more.
“But still, at the end of the day, we felt disappointed because we knew we were better than what we showed out there,” Gill said.

“For me personally I felt good scoring for the country and I felt my performance was decent but overall as a team I think we didn’t perform too well. We lacked some guile and then in the second half we lost the drive to really finish off the game better than we did. We have to come back better and really lift ourselves and put on a better showing on Monday,” Gill said.

He added that the team could have made more of its second-half opportunities after building a 3–1 lead before the break. Looking ahead to Monday, he added, “We as the players of this country, we expect ourselves to do much better.”

Wayne Frederick II said the return leg gives T&T a chance to put what they learned in St John’s into practice in front of their home supporters.

“We know that it wasn’t our best performance, but we know we have another chance at home to make a statement and get a better result and move on to the next round. So that’s what we look to do, and we look to improve and just learn from the mistakes that we made in the last game,” Frederick said.

Frederick went on to add that the team backed itself to recover after conceding early in Antigua. T&T went in 3–1 up at half-time, but he felt they could have put the game beyond reach.

“It’s always difficult when a team is sitting back deeper and not trying to let you score any more goals,” he said. “That’s what we have to understand, that it’s going to take time. We have to be patient, pick our moments. Moving forward, we’re going to learn from it and just figure out how to break down those lower blocks of defence.”

Frederick also reflected on receiving his first individual award at club level and the work that went into earning his opportunity. He was named Colorado Rapids’ Young Player of the Year last week.

“It means a lot. It just shows the growth and development that I’ve gone through over this year. Credit to the club for believing in me and giving me the right support to allow me to grow. I’m really, really happy to get that award for a decent season, but just looking to move forward and improve as I continue my career,” he said.

“I worked really hard for it. I trained hard in the off-season, came in ready, earned the coaches’ trust, and then when you get your opportunity, you have to take it. I think I made the most of it. As I continue to grow and learn, I’m just trying to improve as much as I can.”
Frederick said staying ready during a stretch with fewer minutes for club and country was part of that development.

“There’s valuable experience regardless if you’re playing or not, and just learning from other people. Seeing different types of football helps you grow as a person, as a player.”

With the team back on home soil, Frederick said the players want to give the supporters a performance they can take pride in.

“We just want to make everybody in the country proud. So we’re going to go out there and try our best and give it our all for the nation.”

Kick-off on Monday, November 16, is at 8 p.m. at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.