TT players ‘disappointed’, look to Panama fixture

Trinidad and Tobago’s men’s footballers were back to training yesterday morning as they look to put Friday night’s loss to Honduras past them in anticipating of Tuesday’s 2018 World Cup qualifier away to Panama in Panama City.

Head Coach Dennis Lawrence put the players who were inactive on Friday night through a session while the on-field players underwent a recovery workout at the Ato Boldon Stadium.

A 23-man squad minus the suspended Alvin Jones who was red carded on Friday, will head off to Panama City this evening.

“It’s a situation where we got to pick ourselves up and go again. We have another match to play and we’ve got to get our act together and focus on what is ahead,” Lawrence said.

“We’re all very disappointed with the result and the way in which things went down but the way the other results went on Friday, we’ve go to keep believing that we’re still in it and carry ourselves in a manner where we can keep fighting,” he added.

TT forward Willis Plaza, who came on in the 55th minute and put in a lively shift up top against Honduras, added that there was an obvious feel of dismay in the camp due the result but he was certain the spirits will lift again heading into the Panama affair.

“Yes we are disappointed. We felt this was a game we had to get a win and we didn’t make it happen. We got a goal back from Joevin (Jones) but we we couldn’t get the second goal to level it. When you look at the other results on the night it makes it even more disappointing. Now we have to lift our heads and try to improve and do much more in the next game. I think we have the strengths to pull it off but it all comes down to how strong we can be mentally and physically in the next game,” Plaza said.

“We will have to dig deeper now.”

In their previous World Cup qualifier against Panama in Panama City, TT came away 1-0 winners courtesy of a Stern John second half winner in the 2006 Final Round of qualification.

Lawrence was also part of the line up. In the most recent outing between the two nations there, TT were 2-1 winners in a friendly in 2015 by way of goals from Kenwyne Jones and Radanfah Abu Bakr.

Honduras head coach Jorge Luis Pinto said that his team got a dream start against TT in Friday’s 2-1 victory.

Speaking after the match, the Colombian-born head coach said: “We made the best possible start tonight. We got two early chances and we made sure with it. I was very happy with the way the team pressured the Trinidad and Tobago team and it put their game off.”

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