TT vs USA – A look at players from both teams

The Soca Warriors will need either a fully-focused, total team effort or several individual moments of brilliance to have any chance of reversing Thursday’s 3-0 loss to USA in their first Concacaf Nations League quarter-final tie, when they host the return leg at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo on Monday, from 8 pm.

TT have a good squad but USA’s team list boasts a line up of more experienced players, who have a favourable competitive history between both nations, on their side.

For 2023, TT scored 22 goals from 14 matches and have conceded 20. Of their 23-man roster, a total of 15 play overseas with eight players being locally based. Only three players ply their trade in Europe – defender Andre Raymond (Vilar de Perdizes/Portugal), Kristian Lee-Him (IFK Eskiltuna/Sweden) and Daniel Phillips (St Johnstone FC/Scotland).

Club Sando and Defence Force have the most domestic players on the team, with three apiece. Goalkeeper Denzil Smith, defender Alvin Jones and Real Gill hail from the former while talented left winger Reon Moore, goalkeeper Christopher Biggette and Justin Garcia come from the latter.

Six players perform in the United States at various levels. They include goalkeeper Rushon Sandy (Yavapai College), defenders Jesse Williams (Central Valley Fuego, USL League One) and Shannon Gomez (San Antonio FC, USL Championship), midfielders Neveal Hackshaw (Oakland Roots, USL Championship) and Powder (Northern Colorado Hailstorm, USL League One) and forward Ryan Telfer (Miami FC, USL Championship).

The Soca Warriors goalkeepers - Smith, Biggette and Sandy - have a combined total of six international matches under their belts.

Greek-based AEK Athens striker Levi Garcia, 25, returned to the squad after missing the four previous Nations League matches due to an injury. Garcia, who tallied the opening goal for AEK Athens in the 11th minute of its 3-0 home win over Lamia in the Greek Super League on Sunday, has scored eight international goals in 41 appearances.

Additionally, Telfer leads all TT players with nine goals in 26 matches. Defender and captain Aubrey David, 33, who competes for CS Cartagines (Costa Rica), is the most capped player (77).

Alvin Jones scored a goal for TT in their 2-1 victory over the Americans in 2017, which eliminated the USA from contention for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Jones has four international goals in 48 matches.

He is the younger brother of former TT forward Joevin Jones, who performed for the Chicago Fire, Seattle Sounders and Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.

Despite the USMNT’s youthful dominance up front, TT also has a wealth of young, attacking talent, but most went unused since Noah Powder’s 37th minute red card forced Eve to make dire tactical changes. He had to defend the life out of his players.

Garcia got 30 minutes of play in the second half and could have been more impactful if he had the necessary support up front.

On the bench though, head coach Angus Eve had the likes of rising attacking midfielder Nathaniel “Natty” James, 19, whose been a breath of fresh air for the TT team over their last couple Nations League ties.

James scored 15 goals for Tiger Tanks Club Sando in the first TT Premier Football League season and won the golden boot and Forward of the Year award for his attacking play.

He scored TT’s 1-0 match-winner against Curacao in Nations League action in September and then spanked the 3-2 winner against Guatemala - a picture-perfect free kick - last month.

Sadly, he was not called up on, alongside the likes of equally talented 19-year olds Kaile Auvray and Real Gill. Eve said in Thursday’s post match interview, that if they had not gone one-man down, he would have inserted these young attackers to apply late pressure on the US.

If one or two of them were substituted on, with 11 men on the team, Garcia would have definitely had some welcomed assistance up front. The fearlessness and dynamism of these young players would have definitely changed TT’s defensive style.

"In the second half, we wanted to put on more expressive, attacking-type players. That was the idea, to keep the game close (in the) first half…and then allow the Nathaniel James, Real Gill and these type of guys to come on and express themselves with Levi Garcia. Unfortunately, the red card totally changed what we wanted and had to do. It was an exercise in damage management,” he said.

Canadian-based TT striker Malcolm Shaw found it hard to get going and the US defensive backline stood firm. Additionally, he was forced to ball watch at some points in the match, as USA held a high line and kept pressing for goal.

In the end, TT were defeated by a handsome margin in the final ten minutes of regulation time, and USA did it without their main striker Christian Pulisic and experienced winger Tim Weah. Both players are injured but represent in the Italian top flight for dominators AC Milan and Juventus.

No Pulisic, no problem. Up stepped Borussia Dortmund’s attacking midfielder Gio Reyna, 20, Moncao forward Folarin Balogun, 22, Fulham defender Antonee Robinson, 26 and PSV Eindhoven’s super sub Ricardo Pepi, 20, who all provided the goals or assists en route to victory.

According to ussoccer.com, the USMNT have scored 43 goals scored through 16 matches this year, from varying goal scorers. Seven of the 13 players who have found the back of the net for the USMNT in 2023 are on this roster; Pepi (six goals), Brenden Aaronson (two), Balogun (two), Weston McKennie (two), Reyna (two), Chris Richards (one), Alex Zendejas (one).

Their roster features four sets of club teammates, all of which come from European sides: Fulham (Tim Ream, A. Robinson), PSV Eindhoven (Sergino Dest, Pepi, Malik Tillman), and Nottingham Forest (Ethan Horvath, goalkeeper Matt Turner).

Their roster averages 24 years, 7seven days as of Thursday, with 14 players 24 years and younger. The squad also averages 19 caps and 10 in official competition.

The roster is made up of 12 players that were part of the USMNT side at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 15 players helped the USA claim its second consecutive Concacaf Nations League title this past June.