TT look for consolation win vs Costa Rica

Trinidad and Tobago will aim to end their difficult CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship campaign with a victory against Costa Rica in their final group game at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, from 6.30 pm.

TT lost to Haiti 3-2 in their opening contest on Thursday, before falling 4-1 to Canada on Saturday. TT cannot qualify for the semi-finals and will not advance to the 2018 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in France in August. The top three teams in the current eight-team CONCACAF tournament will qualify for the World Cup.

In both matches, TT started quickly but could not hang on to the lead. TT led 2-0 after 11 minutes against Haiti, while TT scored in the third minute against Canada before conceding four goals.

After the defeat against Canada TT coach Jamaal Shabazz said, “(It was a) tough game, we started well but, we were not able to keep pace with the opponents, but a good start and I saw some good things throughout the game.”

Shabazz is hoping his team could end the tournament on a high against a struggling Costa Rica team. “We have a game against Costa Rica. They are two down we are two down. We’ve got to continue to play and give creditability to the tournament and to the country and come out and give 100 percent,” Shabazz said.

Shabazz said some of the positives he can take away from the first two matches is that TT are showing fight, while proving that they can score goals.

“I think the grit and determination (are positive signs). We are seeing that we could score and we have scored in two matches against the opponents who eventually took charge of the game. There is a fire in us, but the ability to be consistent and to stay in battle is something we need to work on. But certainly we’ve shown the ability to get our noses in front which is a very positive thing for us.”