MIAMI, FL – Trinidad and Tobago staged a remarkable rally to come from two goals down and edge Guatemala 3-2 in a thrilling League A contest of the CONCACAF Nations League on Friday.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Alvin Jones.Reeling after Rubio Méndez (13th) and Oscar Santis (32nd) silenced the home crowd at Hasely Crawford Stadium, T&T stormed back before half-time through Alvin Jones who halved the deficit from the spot in the 36th minute.
Trinidad was back in the contest when substitute Reon Moore grabbed the equalizer in the 54th minute and Nathaniel James also came off the bench to find the winner with time ticking away at the end to seal the points and ensure their side remained unbeaten in Group A with their third straight victory.
“I think we had a lot of heroes on the park today,” said a satisfied head coach Angus Eve.
“Credit to all the players. Some time ago, we probably would not have come back from 2-0 … but credit to the players, credit to the rest of the staff who have been working really hard so that we can have these kinds of days.”
Trinidad fell behind with just under a quarter-of-an-hour played when Méndez sneaked in at the back post unmarked to tap in Nathaniel Mendez’s drilled pass into the box.
The hosts then needed a diving save from goalkeeper Denzil Smith to keep out Rubio Méndez’s long range volley in the 27th minute, and avoid falling further behind but could do little to prevent the second goal, just minutes later.
Santis’s initial shot was blocked by Jones but the rebound fell nicely and he squeezed off another shot which went in off the post.
Trinidad held their nerve, however, and pulled one back with half-time approaching when Jones converted from the penalty spot after Jorge Aparicio brought down Noah Powder in the box.
There was an escape for the home side when Guatemala had a goal chalked off for off-side in the 49th and they cashed in on their good fortune moments later when Neveal Hackshaw’s header was saved by goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen and Moore, a 20th minute substitute, poked in the rebound.
Guatemala squandered three glorious chances to extend their lead, twice striking the woodwork, before James came off the bench in the 80th to steer a brilliant 20-yard free kick past Hagen in the 89th minute.
Also in Group A, Panama beat Curacao 2-1 in Willemstad while Martinique edged El Salvador 1-0 in Fort-de-France.
In League B, Eastern Caribbean countries Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines suffered punishing results.
At Wildey Astro Turf, hosts Barbados were smashed 5-0 by the Dominican Republic after trailing 3-0 at half-time and failing to stage a recovery afterwards.
And at the Arnos Vale Stadium in Kingstown, SVG were thrashed 4-1 by French Guiana after finding themselves down 3-1 at the break.
Barbados lie bottom of Group B following their third loss in as many games while SVG are top of Group C with six points, despite their first loss.
