National under-15 football coach Shawn Cooper has called for composure by his players ahead of last night’s second match of the CONCACAF Under-15 Development Championships in the Dominican Republic.
The players appeared to have lacked composure in their opening match against Honduras on Sunday at the Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium, going down 2-1 in a match that Cooper believed they should have won in the first half alone.
“Now it’s about composure. These boys are getting in front of our opposition. If they have composure and put the ball in the back of the net, then we will be okay,” Cooper said.
The Hondurans opened the scoring in the 35th minute from Osmel Medina. And then they increased their tally 2-0 when Michael Chavez found the nets in the 49th minute. T&T, for the many chances created in the half, pulled a goal back in the 72nd minute through Jeremiah Daniel from the penalty spot for a 2-1 result.
Cooper has said that he would not force his charges into ensuring they get winning results as the tournament is a development one. And yesterday he drove home his point by saying they will learn that if they do not take their chances, then a loss will be the result.
“I think, tonight we showed that we could compete and go toe-to-toe with some of the Central American teams who are ranked above us. It was a lesson for the boys where at international football, you have to take your chances.”
“They left the stadium tonight very disappointed because they knew that this was a game they should have won. They created several one-on-one opportunities in the first half, which they could have won the game in the first half, but as in international football, you miss your chances and you can pay dearly in the end,” Cooper explained.
The young Warriors were scheduled to face Costa Rica last night and Puerto Rico today at 6 pm at the same venue. After their opening defeat, Cooper admitted that he will be battling a few niggling injuries which they are hoping to recover from.
Apart from that, he said his charges will also learn as they go along, reinforcing the fact that it is a development tournament at which they will go from strength to strength.