Soca Warriors credit fighting spirit for 2-1 win vs Cuba

SOCA Warriors midfielders Daniel Phillips and Steffen Yeates said the resolve the team showed after going behind early against Cuba was key to their 2-1 victory in the first leg of their 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup preliminary playoff in Santiago, Cuba on March 21.

Inside the first six minutes, the Cubans had a dream start when Yasnier Matos scored with a close-range volley after a neat exchange outside the box. The Soca Warriors fought back admirably, though, and forward Isaiah Lee responded when he scrambled over the line in the 20th minute after a surging run down the left by debutant Tyrese Spicer.

The teams went into the halftime break deadlocked at one apiece, but the Soca Warriors quickly seized the initiative in the contest as the Canadian-born Yeates scored from point-blank range in the 53rd minute after a Joevin Jones corner.

“It's tough coming away from home in these kinda places, but we knew we had to soak up pressure and have quality on the ball when we played forward so that was the aim,” Phillips said, at the post-match briefing.

Phillips, who came close to adding to TT’s lead when he thumped an effort off the bar in the 69th minute, said it was important for TT to keep their shape and discipline on the road.

“In every game, you can't be on top for 90 minutes. I think we soaked up the pressure quite well, especially after conceding early. Our heads didn't drop,” Phillips said.

“We went back to the other end and scored and I think we frustrated them (a lot). It showed because we had a lot of chances on the counter-attack when we soaked up pressure and forced them into mistakes.”

Yeates shared similar sentiments in his assessment of the game and he wants TT to finish off the job and seal Gold Cup qualification in the second leg which kicks off from 7 pm at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Balmain, Couva on March 25.

“I’m very happy for the team and myself with my first international goal. It's big to lead us into the game on March 25,” Yeates said.

“We spoke about different adversities we might face. We spoke about the possibility of conceding or being down a man or whatever. We spoke about putting our heads down and continuing to fight, probably something we didn't do (well) in the past,” the York United central midfielder said.

“It was unfortunate for us to concede early but as a group, we stuck together collectively and just focused on what we needed to do. We scored within ten-15 minutes and then we were back in the fight. Scoring pretty early in the second half through myself was a good feeling and we kept together as a team and stayed tight and focused and got the result we wanted.”

Last October, with Concacaf Nations League A survival on the line, the Soca Warriors defeated Cuba 3-1 at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Tobago to preserve their Nations League A spot for another campaign.

The 33-year-old Jones, who captained the Soca Warriors in the first leg, was one of the scorers in the 3-1 victory in Tobago. He and coach Dwight Yorke will be hoping for a similar result when the teams lock horns in a few days in Balmain.

A place in the June 14-July 6 Gold Cup awaits.