National Under 17 team head coach Anton Corneal wasn’t talking much about his team’s 3-0 shut out of National Super League club Harvard FC on Monday evening as he had the chance to see the young “Soca Warriors” on display for the final time on home turf before their departure for Jamaica on Wednesday to contest the final round of the CONCACAF qualifiers towards the 2007 FIFA Under 17 World Championship.
Instead, he talked about the team’s sign of being able to pull themselves ahead of a team once the opportunity arose and finish them off.
The same Harvard stopped the locals 2-0 last Thursday but Corneal’s boys lifted their game and were determined to turn the result. Goals came from New York Red Bulls youth player Isaiah Ferguson, Jean Luc Rochford and a first half item by Stephen Knox.
“They showed good character to come back and beat off a group of men that had gotten the better of them less than a week ago,” Corneal told TTFF Media.
“At this point we still won’t make too much of the result but it’s good to see them scoring goals and keeping it tight in defense which is something we have worked tirelessly on. Goalscoring has been one of our lighter areas and we must convert the chances when they come. I think it was a fairly decent performance and result to leave Trinidad on. We have a very big week ahead of us in terms of settling in and preparing for the first match against Costa Rica. The boys are not unaccustomed to playing competitive against international teams and being able to play some of the CONCACAF teams in the Caribbean Cup would have played its part there. We have nothing like stage fright to be worried about. It all comes down to how mentally ready we are and how much we can put all our physical attributes together and deliver as a team out on the field,” Corneal concluded. The team departs for Kingston at 8am on Wednesday.