Trinidad and Tobagos Under 23 footballer started brightly but couldnt hold on as they went down 3-1 to host nation Mexico in their opening match of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying round at the Jalisco Stadium, Guadalajara on Monday night.
T&T, playing before a huge Mexican crowd, were determined not to be trampled and went ahead in the 18th minute when CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh striker Devon Mitchell rifled a shot into the roof of the net from outside the penalty box. The goal shocked the Mexicans who controlled the game in spurts but found it hard to break the resistant Soca Warriors. Their equalizer didnt come until the 43rd minute off the boot of Javier Rodriguez.
T&T fell further behind in the 59th minute when Luis Perez beat goalkeeper Daurance Williams and substitute Carlos Cacho sealed the win for the Mexicans with a 90th minute item. T&T never gave up and enjoyed a couple good breaks on the counter but were unable to find the mark further. Coach Stuart Charles Fevrier will surely be upbeat about his teams chances in Wednesdays second game against Costa Rica which got by Jamaica 3-0 in the earlier match of the double header. It was a very encouraging performance by the team and I think even though we lost this game, credit must go to the guys for a fighting performance, Fevrier said.
It was difficult to go a goal up and then come and lose by two goals but playing against Mexico at home was never going to be easy. I thought we gave them a really good fight and if we can play this way in our remaining games against Costa Rica and Jamaica, then I feel we have a very good chance of coming away with something, he added. The top two teams from the four-nation group advances to the semi finals with the two finalists going through the 2004 Olympics in Athens. The other group comprises of United States, Canada, Honduras and Panama. On Tuesday, the US tackles Panama while Canada meets Honduras.
In the earlier game on Monday night, Roy Myrie scored two quick goals midway through the second half to spur Costa Rica to a 3-0 victory over Jamaica. Costa Rica scored a final goal in stoppage time when Alvaro Saborio fired a shot that bounced off McCallum to Leonardo Araya, who blasted the ball home.