SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (CMC) – Trinidad and Tobago’s chances at the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship suffered yet another blow when they went down 1-0 to hosts Costa Rica in their second Group C game here Wednesday.Randall Leal’s second-half goal was enough to deny the Trinidadians the three points they desperately craved, especially after they were held to a 1-1 stalemate by Bermuda in their opening game last Sunday.
As a result of the defeat, T&T sit third in Group one with a single point. El Salvador, who thrashed Bermuda 3-1 in the other game on Wednesday, top with six points.
Costa Rica are second on three points with Bermuda bottom with a single point.
Both T&T and Costa Rica failed to make any inroads in the first half, leaving the contest on even keel at the break.
However, the hosts took the lead nine minutes following the resumption when Leal unleashed a superb long range volley to beat goalkeeper Denzil Smith.
The goal proved decisive as Trinidad failed to find an equaliser for the remainder of the contest at the Estadio Nacional.
Bermuda, meanwhile, proved no match for El Salvador and trailed 1-0 at half-time through a Roberto Dominguez 21st minute strike.
After the break, Fernando Castillo (65th) and Josue Rivera (67th) scored in the space of three minutes to put the game out of reach and Mazhye Burchall’s 75th minute stunner was only consolation for the Bermudans.
Winless Antigua and Barbuda were scheduled to be in action in Group A yesterday against Canada in the first game of the double-header.