T&T fall to Canada in final Copa quest
T&T fall to Canada in final Copa quest
Trinidad and Tobago’s dreams of advancing to the 2024 Conmebol Copa America tournament were dashed in Dallas on Saturday, when they fell to a 2-0 loss to Canada in their one-off play-in match at the Toyota Stadium.
With the winner of the high-stakes encounter earning a spot in group A of the Copa America tournament alongside Chile, Peru and reigning World Cup champions Argentina, a lot was on the line in a physical battle that saw the teams going into halftime scoreless.
Head Coach Angus Eve set his team up in a 5-4-1 shape, with Shannon Gomez and Andre Raymond operating as wing backs, and the returning Ajani Fortune the closest midfielder to lone striker Levi Garcia on the attacking front. T&T conceded a total of 14 corners in the encounter. But from open play, the Soca Warriors seemed to have a fair measure of the opposing attack as they created few glaring opportunities from the run of play.
In fact, the Greek-based Garcia arguably had the best chance for either team in the first period after being released by a searching Fortune pass in the 18th minute. On his favoured left foot, though, Garcia sent his low shot agonisingly wide of Maxime Crepeau’s goal. Garcia also had a chance to grab an elusive goal for T&T late in the second half, but his spurned first-half effort was his team’s best opening in the game.
With Bayern Munich flanker Alphonso Davies at the heart of the majority of Canada’s play, they tried their best to break T&T down with clever combination plays in the final third. Tajon Buchanan blazed an effort over the bar after being teed up by Davies, while dangerous forward Jonathan David curled a right-footed shot just wide of the mark after receiving a pass from the Bayern Munich wide man in the 22nd minute. But Raymond, Gomez and Alvin Jones kept pace and were hardly outdone throughout the contest.
Four minutes later, Canadian striker Cyle Larin sent a tame effort on goal after neat play down the left side. David then forced a fine save from T&T& custodian Denzil Smith with a firm drive from long range in the 28th minute as Fifa’s 50th-ranked team threatened to break TT’s resistance.
The Warriors’ game plan of exploiting Garcia’s pace on the break was evident, and at the half, they could have considered the job half-done.
Just two minutes into the second half, T&T got another good chance when Raymond flashed a left-footed shot wide of the mark after winning possession in Canada’s defensive third.
After surviving a scare when defender Alvin Jones headed a goalbound flick from David off the line in the 56th minute, Eve showed his intentions when he inserted attacker Reon Moore for central midfielder Andre Rampersad.
Just after the hour mark, T&T’s resistance in Frisco was broken, though, as Larin calmly passed a left-footed shot into the net in the 61st minute after getting a neat back-heel flick from Ike Ugbo at the end of a right-side move.
T&T made two more changes of attacking intent in the 81st minute when the diminutive pair of Kaile Auvray and Real Gill came on. Gill almost had an immediate impact on the game in the 85th minute when he worked a slick one-two with Garcia down T&T’s right. However, Garcia’s left-footed effort didn’t have the finesse or power needed to get past Crepeau’s big right hand at the far post.
As T&T desperately surged forward in search of an equaliser, Canada’s own substitute, Jacob Shaffelburg, looked to kill off the contest.
In the 87th minute, Shaffelburg had Smith sprawling with a thunderous left-footed shot which cannoned off the base of the post and out. In the first minute of stoppage-time, though, Shaffelburg was bang on target when he drilled an effort into the roof of the net from close range after a rapid counter-attack from the Canadian team.
Shaffelburg’s goal sparked wild scenes among his teammates, while Eve and the TT contingent saw their dream of going to Copa America 2024 slowly fade away.
Eve’s T&T will now shift focus to 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifying.
