Trinidad and Tobago’s hopes of advancing to the next phase of the Concacaf Nations League were shattered last night after they were drubbed 4-0 by a well-oiled Honduras at the Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano in Honduras.
A double from midfielder Alberth Elis was more than enough to give the home side victory and confine the Soca Warriors to yet another humiliating 4-0 loss in four days.
In a game in which T&T were put under defensive pressure from the first whistle by a slick Honduran midfield which grabbed control of the game, Elis first converted a penalty in the second minute of time added on for stoppages in the first half. After defender Aikim Andrews brought down Honduran winger Jonathan Torohia in the penalty area, Elis stepped up and buried a right-footed shot into the bottom right-hand corner of T&T goalie Marvin Phillip’s net to increase the advantage to 3-0.
Elis completed his double in the 52-minute when he latched onto a through ball from Torohia inside the penalty area and unleashed a right-footer which gave a now weary Phillip no chance again.
Torohia had earlier given Honduras the lead after just five minutes when he beat Phillip with a right-footer from just outside the box off a free-kick.
Influential midfielder Brayan Moya, who pulled most of the strings in the middle of the field for his team, then gave them a 2-0 cushion 15 minutes later with a left-footer inside the penalty area off a feed from Félix Crisanto.
T&T, beaten 3-0 in a mid-week friendly by Ecuador, tried their best in the second half but simply did not have the depth to launch a comeback. To add insult to injury, coach Dennis Lawrence lost both Jomal Williams and Carlyle Mitchell and to injuries.
(Teams)
Trinidad and Tobago (4-2-3-1): 1.Marvin Phillip (GK); 18.Aikim Andrews, 2.Aubrey David, 4.Sheldon Bateau (captain), 3.Ross Russell Jr (12.Carlyle Mitchell 55 [5.Daneil Cyrus 69]); 23.Aaron Lester, 8.Kevon Goddard; 20.Jomal Williams (16.Jomoul Francois 74), 9.Ataulla Guerra, 11.Ryan Telfer; 10.Marcus Joseph.
Unused substitutes: 21.Glenroy Samuel (GK), 7.Nathan Lewis, 19.Matthew Woo Ling, 17.Jerrel Britto.
Coach: Dennis Lawrence
Honduras (4-2-1-3): 22.Luis Lopez (GK), 2.Félix Crisanto, 15.Denil Maldonado, 3.Maynor Figueroa (captain), 5.Éver Alvarado; 8.Carlos Pineda, 10.Alexander López; 13.Brayan Moya (20.Edwin Rodríguez 86); 17.Alberth Elis, 11.Rubilio Castillo, 12.Jonathan Toro Rubio (16.Rigoberto Rivas 78).
Unused substitutes: 1.Harold Fonseca (GK), 18.Jose Zúñiga (GK), 4.Marcelo Santos, 6.Bryan Acosta, 7.Emilio Izaguirre, 9.Jorge Benguché, 14.Kevin Arriaga, 19.Juan Ramón Mejía, 21.Kevin López, 23.Edwin Solano.
Coach: Fabián Coito
Concacaf Nations League Result
(Sunday 17 November 2019)
Honduras 4 (Jonathan Toro Rubio 5, Brayan Moya 20, Alberth Elis 45+1 pen, 53), Trinidad and Tobago 0 at San Pedro Sula
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Honduras whip woeful T&T in Nations League.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).
HONDURAS whipped a woeful T&T outfit 4-0 last night, at the Olimpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, in their Concacaf Nations League, League A Group C encounter.
The Hondurans have qualified for both the Concacaf Nations League semi-finals and the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup.
T&T, on the other hand, were relegated to League B and will enter the Gold Cup qualifying second round.
Honduras finished top of the three-team League A Group C with 10 points from four matches, followed by Martinique (three points) – who also qualified for the next Gold Cup, and T&T (two points).
For T&T coach Dennis Lawrence, this result mirrored Thursday’s 3-0 win away to Ecuador, in a friendly international. The T&T team, who recorded their largest ever victory last Sunday – 15-0 over Anguilla – hardly offered a threat on the offensive end, and their defence were routinely picked apart by their hosts.
It was virtually a new-look T&T team, with a number of players absent due to suspension, choice, injuries or inability to enter Honduras due to an issue with their vaccination cards.
Aikim Andrews, who plays as a midfielder with Terminix La Horquetta Rangers, was inserted as the right back by Lawrence, and the make-shift defender was culpable for Honduras’ opener, after five minutes.
Andrews chested a long-ball from a Honduras player and failed to spot a lurking Jonathan Rubio who took the loose ball and drilled a low right-footed shot, from the edge of the penalty box, to the right of goalkeeper Marvin Phillip.
Another full-back, Aubrey David, was left for dead by overlapping defender Felix Crisanto who made a run down the flank and squared the ball for Brayan Moya who slotted a left-footed effort to the bottom right-hand corner in the 20th minute.
Honduras virtually assured themselves of victory when Alberth Elis converted a penalty, in first half stoppage time, after Moya’s shirt was pulled, inside the box, by a hapless Andrews.
And Elis put the icing on the cake in the 54th minute. T&T’s captain Sheldon Bateau’s poor pass was intercepted by the midfield and the ball was relayed to Elis who was free as a bird as he strolled into the penalty box and finished with a powerful right-footed shot.
Marcus Joseph came close to getting an elusive goal for T&T, with a left-footed shot which forced a good save from Luis Lopez, after 61 minutes.