Following his team’s 1-1 away draw to Grenada on Saturday night Stuart Charles-Fevrier is confident Trinidad and Tobago will advance to the final round of the CONCACF men’s Olympic qualifiers on Saturday.
On Saturday night at the Grenada National Stadium, in the second round first-leg qualifiers Kithson Bain gave Grenada an early lead when he latched onto a through ball from the US-based Chris Charles, dribbled a defender and blasted past Jan-Michael Williams with his left foot in the 10th minute.
Ten minutes before the half, captain Silvio Spann equalised for T&T from the penalty spot after Salvadoran referee Rodolfo Sibrian had whistled for a foul on Grenadian goalkeeper Ken Searles on T&T striker Kevon Carter.
Charles-Fevrier said, “I was very pleased the way we played, but we need to improve on turning ball possession into goalscoring chances.
“They (Grenada) played with five players behind the ball for most of the time, but we should have taken more shots on goal Charles-Fevrier was also critical of the surface which he stated was very bumpy and made it difficult for players to control the ball, It was not what we expected. Looking ahead to Wednesday’s return-leg at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, from 7pm, Charles-Fevrier said he hoped to have winger Josh Johnson (San Juan Jabloteh) and Kendall Davis (W Connection) back for the match. “Both Johnson (red eye) and Davis (injury) were not part of the team on Saturday, but Davis may return for the match while Johnson is still uncertain.
“Offensively we were thin, with Davis and Johnson being out, but coming back home to play on a better surface it should help us. In other second round of the qualifiers Costa Rica pummelled Guyana 7-0 in Cartago, El Salvador edged Canada 1-0 in San Salvador, USA crushed St. Kitts/Nevis 6-0 in Basseterre, while. The first leg match-ups concluded yesterday when Jamaica hosted Guatemala and Haiti faced Honduras.
The winners of these six series join Panama and host Mexico in the final round of CONCACAF qualification from February 2-12 next year to battle for one of two berths to the 2004 Olympic Games, Athens, Greece, next September.