'Hungry' Soca Warriors secure Nations League A survival

Soca Warriors caretaker coach Derek King said the hunger and his team's desire to stay in Concacaf Nations League A inspired them to their crucial 3-1 victory over Cuba at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago on October 14.

In fifth spot on the six-team table before kickoff in the group B matchup, the Soca Warriors needed a win to avoid relegation to League B. The Soca Warriors got exactly that, as goals by Dantaye Gilbert, Joevin Jones and substitute Real Gill propelled them to victory over Cuba – relegating their opponents and French Guiana to League B in the process.

Trinidad and Tobago finished the group in fourth on five points, with Jamaica (eight points) and Honduras (seven points) advancing to the Nations League quarterfinals after finishing first and second respectively. The Soca Warriors were unable to replicate their quarterfinal finish from the last Nations League cycle, but the consolation is Nations League survival and qualification for the 2025 Gold Cup preliminary phase.

"It's a great feeling for us to maintain (our spot at the Nations League) A level. What we saw, especially in the first half, we saw a team that was hungry and a team that really wanted these three points," King said, at the post-match briefing.

"We went out there and we played some good football. In the first half alone, we could have at least been 5-0 up."

The visitors had a bright start to the contest, but TT quickly took control of the game with their incisive attacking play, with Gilbert, forward Nathaniel James and Jones, who had been recalled for this window after a 15-month hiatus, running Cuba ragged.

TT took the lead in the 13th minute as the 19-year-old Gilbert, who's attached to Jong PSV in Holland, scored with a cheeky dink over goalkeeper Raiko Arozarena after receiving a through pass from the electric James.

The lanky Gilbert turned provider in the 28th minute, as he slipped in Jones, who fired a low right-footed shot past Arozarena's reach to give TT a 2-0 advantage.

For Jones, it was his second goal in as many games after his wonder strike against the Cubans in a 2-2 draw in Santiago on October 10. Both Gilbert and James were unused substitutes in the first meeting with Cuba, but the young attackers were showing their worth in Bacolet as they took TT towards Nations League safety.

"(Dantaye) was pretty good...I spoke to him and he was always eager to play as well," King said. "I told him 'once you go on the pitch, just do what you have to do.'

"And I think he was outstanding."

A former Secondary Schools Football League national intercol winner with Presentation College (San Fernando), Gilbert made his senior TT debut in June when the Warriors hammered Bahamas 7-1 in a World Cup qualifier.

He was thrilled to score his first goal for the national team.

"It was an honour to score my first goal. All thanks to the boys – Nathaniel James for the assist. And yeah, we're staying in Concacaf Nations League A," Gilbert said.

"We had a draw in the last game and we needed to get a result in this game. The boys just came out and put our best foot forward and we got the result.

"I don't think the emotions of scoring my first goal have really hit me yet...going into the World Cup qualifiers, we need to try and make the World Cup and it's all up from now."

TT wasted a number of goal scoring opportunities in the 2-2 draw with Cuba, and King was momentarily haunted by his team's wastefulness in the return fixture as Cuba got on the scoresheet in the 62nd minute when Yasniel Matos scored from close range after a cheap giveaway by a Soca Warriors player.

"As I told the players, 'once they keep the opposition in the game they'll always feel they have a chance.'

"What we saw today (Monday) is progress with the team."

Anxiety crept into the Soca Warriors' play, as the Cubans created more chances. TT also lost some of their fluidity when the injured Jones hobbled off the field in the 51st minute.

However, Jones' replacement, Gill, effectively sealed the game and calmed the Soca Warriors' nerves when he rounded Arozarena to slot into an empty net just three minutes after Cuba's goal.

With little to do for most of the game, custodian Adrian Foncette preserved TT's two-goal lead with a fine save in the 68th minute, before Karel Perez was sent off two minutes later for a second bookable offence – reducing Cuba to ten players as they desperately chased the game.

The writing was on the wall for Cuba by then. For TT, their mission of securing Nations League A survival was complete.

"The key factor is that we're creating goal scoring opportunities," King said.

"I think we were sloppy, especially defensively...we have to continue working (on this) if we want to compete with the top guns in Concacaf."