Coach Cooper on U17 Soca Warriors' Concacaf win: We're back in it

Trinidad and Tobago’s Under-17 squad will use the next two days to rest and recover ahead of their third Concacaf U17 World Cup qualifier clash against Sint Maarten at the Estadio Nacional in San Jose, Costa Rica on February 13.

The young Soca Warriors sit atop the Group B standings on four points after drawing their opening match 1-1 against Guyana on February 7 and defeating the British Virgin Islands (BVI) 3-1, two days later.

The squad has a couple of days to recuperate from their first two matches, which were one day apart.

Head coach Shawn Cooper confirmed there are a couple niggling injuries among his youthful bunch, and they would be using the off-days to not only recover but also better prepare for the Sint Maarten clash.

“We have (three) days to rest now, and we could rest and reflect and see what more changes (we can make),” he said.

“We have a couple nagging injuries, which, in those days, we’re supposed to mend them. We brought ourselves back in the competition with these three points, so we’re very thankful for it.”

Against BVI, TT’s Josiah Kallicharan struck the opening goal with a header in the box in the sixth minute. Teammate Caden Trestrail extended the lead in the 22nd minute after pouncing on a rebound, while Kallicharan doubled his tally five minutes later.

Zeveih Abraham pulled on back for the British Virgin Islands in the 92nd minute.

On the result, Cooper said his troops could have done better but he was still pleased to add three points towards their U17 World Cup qualification campaign.

“We didn’t play as best as we could, but we got the victory and a victory is what was required. We started with a new system today and the boys worked it out pretty okay in the first half. Second half, we went on a bit flat and we made a couple changes and the guys took a little while to settle in. As a matter of fact, I thought they didn’t settle in. We got the victory and are happy about it.”

Goal scorer Trestrail said his teammates took some time to acclimatise to the environment in their opening contest, and were well-adjusted for their second tie.

“In the first match, we had to break the guys, get them accustomed to the field, so we did that. For this match, we came out all guns-blazing to get some goals. We started the first half well, but we dropped off a little bit in the second half, and it was not good enough. I think the next game will be better,” Trestrail said.

TT resume at Sint Maarten on February 13 from 6 pm (TT time) and complete their group phase against hosts Costa Rica on February 16.

After the group phase, only the top teams from each of the eight groups will confirm spots at the U17 World Cup in November in Qatar.