CAIRO, Egypt, CMC – Trinidad & Tobago had a goal disallowed as they crashed to a 2-1 defeat to Italy yesterday leaving their qualification hopes in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup hanging by a thread.
Robert Primus fired in from close range halfway though the first half to give T&T what they thought was a surprise lead in the Group A encounter at Cairo International Stadium.
But the Young Soca Warriors’ celebrations were cut short as the goal was waved off by the assistant referee.
T&T then cruelly suffered at the hands of fate and Michelangelo Albertazzi moments later in the 39th minute to fall behind 1-0.
Andrea Mazzarani swung in a corner and Arbertazzi avoided his markers to nod past Trinidadian goalkeeper Glenroy Samuel.
The strike gave Italy a 1-0 lead at half-time but it was the Trinidadians who rebounded well after the break.
They started positively and came close to leveling the scores when Jamaal Gay’s volley beat the goalkeeper but was agonizingly stopped by the underside of the crossbar.
However, Juma Clarence found the equalizer for the Trinidadians when he capitalized on a muffed clearance by Matteo Gentile to steer the ball into the back of the nets in the 67th minute.
With an upset seemingly in the making, Italy hit back 12 minutes from the end to lift their chances of reaching the last 16 in the tournament.
Mattia Mustacchio dragged his marker down the left flank with a superb run before squaring the ball into the box where Silvano Raggio produced a powerful volley to shatter T&T’s hopes.
The Caribbean side are bottom of the standings without a point, following their opening day loss to hosts Egypt on Thursday.
They play their final match against Paraguay on Thursday.
