(Trinidad Guardian) T&T Soca Warriors chances of reaching the semifinals of this Concacaf Nations League took a heavy blow after twice letting a one-goal lead slip in a 2-2 draw away to Cuba in their penultimate League A Group B match at in Santiago de Cuba on Thursday.
With the drawn result, T&T moved off the foot of the six-team table with two points from three matches, one behind Cuba, with both teams set to meet on Monday at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago, from 9 p.m. Needing a win to keep alive their hopes of a top two finish in the group, the Derek King-coached Soca Warriors got the perfect start when 33-year-old Belgium-based Sheldon Bateau silenced the home crowd when he headed the Soca Warriors into an eight minute from a corner, with his fifth international goal in 55 appearances and first since scoring in a 3-0 win over Guyana in 2021.
Cuba then took control of the match and created a few nervous moments for T&T through striker Maikel Reyes, who was a constant threat but failed to find the target. In the 21st minute, Reyes side-footed an overbar from a right-side cross, while on the stroke of halftime, his right-footed effort under pressure from T&T captain Aubrey David from an acute angle was parried away by goalkeeper Denzil Smith, with defender Shannon Gomez clearing away the rebound ahead of any Cuban player.
Against the run of play, T&T should have made it 2-0 when Isaiah Lee was put through on goal by a clever pass over the top of the defence by Joevin Jones.
However, Lee failed to beat Cuba goalkeeper Ismel Morgado on a one-on-one, and from the rebound, Canada-based Andre Rampersad picked out an unmarked Kevon Woodley, but his mistimed right-footed effort went just wide of the right post from about eight yards out, with a teammate better placed to score to leave the score 1-0 at the interval.
Three minutes into the second half, Cuba created a great chance to draw level when Yasniel Matos picked out an unmarked Dairon Reyes in the T&T 18-yard box, but he fired his left-footed shot wide of the far post with T&T goalkeeper Denzil Smith rooted to his line.
On the hour mark, Jones was back in the team for the first time since the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup, then wasted a chance to extend T&T’s lead on the hour mark when he wrong-footed his marker inside the 18-yard box but fired his shot wide of the right-hand post off his favourite left foot with goalkeeper Raiko Arozarena at full stretch.
T&T was then made to pay for that missed effort when substitute Ray Angel Rodriguez unleashed a low left-footed drive from about 25 yards out, which beat a visibly injured Smith diving to his right and into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal. for a 1-1 score line in the 63rd.
However, the hosts joy was short-lived as Jones made amends for his early miss with an impressive left-footed finish to restore the Soca Warriors lead in the 70th at 2-1 with his 13th goal in 88 appearances.
But, once again, the Cubans came roaring back with another substitute, Aniel Casanoa, who replaced Dairon Reyes in the 66th minute, tapping home the equaliser in the 75th from less than two yards out after an initial attempt by a teammate was parried blocked onto the right post by substitute goalkeeper Adrian Foncette.
Both teams then created to snatch all three points, with substitute Kevin Molino, 34, also making his return since last playing at the Gold Cup.
But in the end, T&T, who last won in Havana was in 2008; a 3-1 win for the Francisco Maturana-coached squad had to settle for the draw, denting their chances of the top two finishing further, and yet to get a win after a 4-0 loss away to Honduras was followed by a goalless draw at Bacolet with French Guiana in their two matches last month, the first two under King after he replaced the sacked Angus Eve.
After group stage, the first and second-place teams of each group will advance to the quarterfinals, where they will join the four top-ranked League A teams (Mexico, USA, Panama, and Canada).
Going into their final match on Monday, the Soca Warriors will be mindful of getting out of the bottom two in their group table because at the end of the round-robin phase the fifth and sixth placed teams will be relegated to League B.
