Trinidad & Tobago (pictured) has secured a place in the semifinals of the Caribbean under-20 qualifying tournament for the 2017 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship.
WILLEMSTAD, Curacao – Thanks to a 1-1 draw between Cuba (0W-2D-1L, 2 points) and St. Lucia (0-1-2, 1) in the opener of a Caribbean under-20 qualifying finals, Group B doubleheader on Wednesday at the Stadion Ergilio Haito, Trinidad & Tobago (1-2-0, 5) secured a place in the competition’s semifinals and a berth in the 2017 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship.
The Soca Warriors followed that result with a 0-0 stalemate of their own against first-place Haiti (2-1-0, 7) to conclude Group B play.
“Credit to every player and every member of staff for this effort,” T&T head coach Brian Williams told TTFA Media. “We came here with one ambition, which was to get out of the group and secure our place in the CONCACAF phase. And I must tip my hat to the members.”
T&T has yet to lose in the tournament that started in June, posting an overall 3-3-0 mark. It’s also the only side to take points from the Haitians (5-1-0).
“We played unbeaten in the three games here and we are yet to lose a game in the qualifiers and I think that is something we can feel good about,” expressed Williams, whose squad has yet to concede a goal in the finals. “We are not going to get carried away because we still have a semifinal game to play and a chance to defend our title in the Caribbean.”
The semifinals are slated for Friday as Antigua & Barbuda takes on T&T to kick off a twin bill that will end with a meeting between Haiti and Bermuda. The match for third place and final will take place two days later.
By virtue of it finishing as the team with the best third-place record, St. Kitts & Nevis (1-1-1, 4) also progressed to the CONCACAF event, which will be played in Costa Rica from February 17-March 5, 2017. The other participants in the 12-team field are: the host nation, Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the United States.
2016 CARIBBEAN UNDER-20 QUALIFYING – FINAL ROUND
Curacao
October 21-30, 2016
SCHEDULE
GROUP A (Stadion Ergilio Hato – Willemstad, Curacao)
Antigua & Barbuda 3-2-1-0-6-4-7
Bermuda 3-1-1-1-6-5-4
St. Kitts & Nevis 3-1-1-1-6-6-4
Curacao 3-0-1-2-2-5-1
October 21, 2016
Bermuda 3, St. Kitts & Nevis 1
Knory Scott 26’; Tevahn Tyrell 30’, 37’ / Tahir Hanley 17’
Curacao 0, Antigua & Barbuda 1
Javorn Stevens 86’
October 23, 2016
St. Kitts & Nevis 2, Antigua & Barbuda 2
Delano Hodge 9’; Tahir Hanley 48’ / Javorn Stevens 23’; Luther Wildin 86’
Curacao 1, Bermuda 1
Leeroy Schorea 32’ / Tevahn Tyrell 79’
October 25, 2016
Antigua & Barbuda 3, Bermuda 2
Mohammad Hakeem 1’, 11’; Javorn Stevens 40’ / Mazhye Burchall 53’, 86’
Curacao 1, St. Kitts & Nevis 3
Jeremy Cijntje 42’ / Javier Sutton 23’; Delano Hodge 67’; Dakarai Phipps 76’
GROUP B (Stadion Ergilio Hato – Willemstad, Curacao)
Haiti 3-2-1-0-7-2-7
Trinidad & Tobago 3-1-2-0-4-0-5
Cuba 3-0-2-1-2-3-2
St. Lucia 3-0-1-2-2-10-1
October 22, 2016
Haiti 5, St. Lucia 1
Roberto Louima 6’; Ronaldo Damus 23’, 83’, 86’; Kenley Dede 78’ / Keeroy Lionel 80’
Trinidad & Tobago 0, Cuba 0
October 24, 2016
St. Lucia 0, Trinidad & Tobago 4
Nicholas Dillon 5’, 28’, 70’; Noah Powder 65’
Haiti 2, Cuba 1
Jimmy-Shammar Sanon 6’; Jonel Desire 80’ / Lazaro Tuero 68’
October 26, 2016
Cuba 1, St. Lucia 1
Darien Guerra 21’ / own-goal, Ronald Aranda 84’
Trinidad & Tobago 0, Haiti 0
SEMIFINALS (Stadion Ergilio Hato – Willemstad, Curacao)
October 28, 2016: Antigua & Barbuda v Trinidad & Tobago; Haiti v Bermuda
THIRD PLACE MATCH (Stadion Ergilio Hato – Willemstad, Curacao)
October 30, 2016: Semifinal losers
FINAL (Stadion Ergilio Hato – Willemstad, Curacao)
October 30, 2016: Semifinal winners
