U17 Soca Warriors hammer St Maarten 9-0

Trinidad and Tobago's men’s under-17 football team moved to seven points in group B of the Concacaf Under-17 World Cup qualifiers when they got a thumping 9-0 win over Sint Maarten at the Estadio Nacional, San Jose, Costa Rica on February 13.

The result momentarily moved TT atop the group, with Caribbean rivals Guyana (four points) and group favourites Costa Rica (six points) meeting after press time on February 13 in a key group B clash.

Playing against a Sint Maarten team that had conceded 19 goals in their first three matches, coach Shawn Cooper’s TT team initially found their opponents’ low block difficult to break down.

However, after TT finally beat a stubborn Sudesh Singh in the Sint Maarten goal through a rasping Josiah Kallicharan hit in the 36th minute, the floodgates opened as seven goals were scored in an emphatic second-half showing.

TT went into the half with a 2-0 lead courtesy a close-range goal from defender Sheridan McNish, who beat Singh after a shot from substitute Caden Trestrail crashed off the post.

Kallicharan, who bagged a brace against the British Virgin Islands on February 9, was in the thick of the action again as he completed a hat-trick to lead his team’s second-half riot.

TT got their third goal only three minutes into the second half, as Kallicharan scored from close range after an excellent run and cross from the right by substitute Criston Gomez.

Gomez was one of three substitutes to score in the second half, and both he and Trestrail put in strong performances as TT stretched their goal difference to +11.

With Singh making a string of saves, TT had to wait for their fourth goal which eventually came in the 73rd minute when Kallicharan tapped in from a few yards out after a run down the left by the tricky Trestrail.

Singh was replaced with Jurre Van De Pas in the 75th minute, and the latter experienced a baptism of fire as Sint Maarten conceded a whopping five goals in the last 12 minutes.

The goal of the game arguably came from defender Adam Pierre in the 85th minute, as the St Benedict’s College student banged a right-footed volley into the net from about 25 yards out to make it 5-0. TT made a mas in the Sint Maarten penalty area thereafter as Timothy Valentine, Gomez, Trestrail and captain Nikosi Foncette all scored as the young Soca Warriors unit finished the game in fine style.

In these Concacaf qualifiers, only the eight group winners will advance to the 2025 Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Qatar. From 9 pm (TT time) on February 16, Cooper’s squad will have their date with destiny when they meet Costa Rica at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela. A victory should guarantee TT a spot in the Under-17 World Cup in November.