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 Estadio 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 were slated for last night as Antigua & Barbuda took 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 tomorrow.
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.