T&T U-15s close off with Wins
Trinidad and Tobago Under-15 footballers closed off the 2023 Concacaf Under-15 Championships with a 3-0 win over Qatar in Dominican Republic on Thursday.
T&T closed off their group phase with a 2-0 win over Costa Rica after defeats to Honduras and Puerto Rico in Group D.
Nikosi Foncette (second minute), Jonathan Mason (sixth) and Keston Richards (22nd) were the goal scorers for TT against Qatar in the playoff match, organised by Concacaf for teams who did not make it into the quarterfinals.
“I was pleased to see how the boys finished the tournament,” Cooper told the TTFA Media. “They have scored five goals in [their last] two games with two clean sheets. If we scored our chances in the previous game, we should have won the group and played Jamaica [in the quarterfinals yesterday].
“But as fate had it, we didn’t take our opportunities.”
Trinidad and Tobago never won a match in the Concacaf Under-15 Championship before 2023.
In the 2017 competition, T&T conceded a combined 13 goals without reply against Costa Rica, the United States and Canada before being mauled 8-1 by Jamaica in the subsequent playoff.
Then in 2019, T&Tdrew 1-1 with Barbados but lost to Costa Rica (3-0), Portugal (3-0) and Guatemala (4-2) to end with three goals scored and 11 conceded.
The current Under-15s, led by Cooper and assistant Densill Theobald, finished the tournament with a positive goal differential—after scoring seven times while conceding four.
“The boys would have learned the difference between school and club football and international football,” Cooper added. “The technical speed and tactical awareness is at a different level. They have seen their weaknesses and they all accepted that they need to go back and work on some of the problems they have in their game.
Trinidad and Tobago: 18.Marcelo Phillip (GK); 2.Jeremiah Daniel (captain), 12.Salim Soanes, 3.Adam Pierre, 5.Criston Gomez (16.Isaiah David); 8.Nkosi Foncette, 6.Stephen Ollivierie; 14.Josiah Simmons (11.Akel Vesprey), 17.Joshua Miguel (10.Caden Trestrail), 13.Keston Richards (7.Elijah Diaz); 9.Jonathan Mason.
Unused substitutes: 1.Mikhail Clement (GK), 15.Riquelme Phillips.
Injured: 4.Sheridan McNish
Head Coach: Shawn Cooper
Qatar: 16.Ahmed Abouetah (GK); 2.Abdelazizel Hamaida, 3.Sultan Al-abdulrahman, 4.Adam Friakh, 5.Alshaikjoeghari Ndaw, 6.Karam Malak, 8.Malik Hassan, 9.Zaid Ktit (captain), 11.Tameem Al-qadi, 13. Omar Al-Marzouqi, 15.Alzoughbi Ward.
Substitutes: 1.Abdelrahman Zahab (GK), 7.Yousef Salman, 10.Faissel Irahbine, 12.Saad Alabdulla, 14.Mohannad Sh Babli, 17.Yazan Mohamed.
Head Coach: Aritz Arantzamendi
Referee: Felix Mojica (Nicaragua)
T&T DEFEAT COSTA RICA 2-0
Trinidad and Tobago’s Boys Under-15 footballers bounced back to defeat Costa Rica 2-0 on Wednesday to end Group D of the Concacaf Under-15 Championships on a high
Goals from Jonathan Mason and Jeremiah Daniel gave T&T their first win at the Felix Sanchez Stadium, Dominican Republic, but it was not enough to see them advance to the quarterfinals. T&T were already out of contention before the final round, after losses to Honduras and Puerto Rico.
The Shawn Cooper-coached TT team completed League A group play with one win and two losses, to finish behind group winners Honduras (five points), Puerto Rico (four points) and Costa Rica (four points).
A goal by forward Jonathan Mason, his second in successive matches, and right back Jeremiah Daniel’s second penalty of the competition decided the affair. Both items came in the last 10 minutes of the contest.
Trinidad and Tobago had no chance of getting to the quarterfinal round at kickoff. However, their win eliminated Costa Rica who could have advanced with even a 1-0 loss.
Trinidad and Tobago : 1.Mikhail Clement (GK); 2.Jeremiah Daniel, 4.Sheridan McNish (captain) (11.Akel Vesprey 36), 12.Salim Soanes, 16.Isaiah David (5.Criston Gomez 52); 8.Nkosi Foncette, 6.Stephen Ollivierie; 13.Keston Richards (14.Josiah Simmons 36), 10.Caden Trestrail, 7.Elijah Diaz (15.Riquelme Phillips 48); 9.Jonathan Mason.
Unused substitutes: 18.Marcelo Phillip (GK), 17.Joshua Miguel.
Suspended: 3.Adam Pierre
Head Coach: Shawn Cooper
Costa Rica: 1.Ian O’Rourke (GK); 2.Yerlan Sosa, 3.Thiago Cordero (17.Jefferson Bennette 36), 13.Ariel Rivera, 15.Osman Palma, 5.Derek Rodriguez (captain), 8.Sebastian Lopez (6.Johan Jiminez 66), 10.Kazmir Foster (14.Adriel Perez 58), 7.Isaac Badilla, 9.Marcos Brown (11.Abdias Acosta 36), 12.Gabriel Sibaja (16.Rolando Ruiz 54).
Unused substitutes: 18.Brandon Campos (GK), 4.Jerry Alfaro.
Head Coach: Cristian Vella
Referee: Dilia Bradley (Guatemala)
