Shawn Cooper: Trinidad and Tobago Under-17 footballers learning on the job

TRINIDAD and Tobago Under-17 men’s football coach Shawn Cooper knew it would have been a challenging match against Barbados in the CONCACAF Under-17 Championships, but said his players fought hard as they are learning on the job.

An 82nd-minute strike from Lindell Sween helped TT earn a 1-1 draw against Barbados on Wednesday in Guatemala and qualify for the knock-out phase of the tournament.

“I said from the start Barbados is no walkover,” Cooper told TT Football Association media. “They have some quality players within their squad and they were a stubborn bunch. The difference in this match was who wanted it more with all the cards on the table. They (Barbados) were purposeful in their play and had the belief of going to the second rounds. We on the other hand was trying to put on a full 90-minute performance to have the perfect game. But we struggled to settle down not for the first time and went a goal behind by some poor decision-making and defensive organisation.

Cooper knows his team must improve, but said they are trying.

“It wasn’t pretty and we know we can play much better football than we are doing at this time, but the boys are learning on the job and their efforts cannot be questioned. They are giving their all for the country at the moment.”

The TT coach wants his team to score more goals. “But we must be better going forward in the future. We have several players on the day who can deliver goals. Today was Sween and day before was (Derrel) Garcia.”

TT will play their next match in the round of 16 on Sunday at 9 pm TT time. Up to press time on Thursday their opponent was not known.