Coach disappointed with Trinidad’s loss to Peru

LIMA, Peru,  CMC-Trinidad and Tobago co-head coach Hutson Charles has expressed disappointment with his team’s 3-0 defeat to Peru at the Estadio Nacional in Lima Tuesday night.

The Soca Warriors were outclassed by the South Americans after a hard fought nil nil draw against Belize in Belmopan on Saturday.

Charles said while the result was disappointing squad selection ahead of the CONCACAF Gold Cup has become an easier task.

“The players that we brought here allowed us to see who can go forward and who couldn’t make it,” Charles said.

“This was the right game for us. We are looking for the right chemistry, the right players for the right positions. I’m disappointed with the result because I thought we gave up three soft goals. But we are going to keep working and we’ll get this thing right”.

The Warriors loss against Peru and drawn fixture with Belize has seen their winless streak extend to four matches.

The visitors struggled to find momentum in the first half as Peru controlled the run of play for large periods.

However, goals by Yordy Reyna in the 39th, substitute Paolo Hurtado (81st) and Christopher Gonzales, two minutes later, sealed the win for Peru.

The Warriors best chance at coverting was a right-footed crack from Chris Birchall off a Keyon Edwards pass which skimmed the crossbar seven minutes into the second half.

“I think it was a really good exercise for us to get some answers as it gets closer to the Gold Cup in terms of players who are ready and who will have to wait a bit longer. We saw some good moments in the match. We saw some good work with the two centre backs (Cyrus and Mitchell),” said partnering head coach Jamaal Shabazz.

“We saw Cornell Glen hold up the ball well at times and we also saw the midfield, even against a high level opponent away from home, try to put the ball down and play. These were some of the positives for us and we can only get this right by playing quality opponents like this from time to time”.