MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, CMC – Trinidad and Tobago head coach, Stephen Hart, says his side had shown signs of improvement despite suffering a 3-1 drubbing at the hands of powerful Uruguay last Friday.
The defeat came on the heels of a 4-0 loss to Peru last Monday but Hart said there were indications the number one Caribbean team was going in the right direction.
“I thought we were much improved from the game against Peru. We at times possessed the ball well, we recovered it well, we defended as we know you would have to when being away from home against one of the best teams in the world,” Hart explained.
“We could have gotten a little more out of the game if we could have played a bit faster and moved the ball forward a little bit faster.”
He continued: “Those were the aspects of the performance which was for me the most important thing. There are a few of course we know we have to correct but overall there were some good individual and collective performances.”
Playing at the Estadio Centenario, Jomal Williams gave the visitors a shock seventh minute lead but Paris Saint-Germain superstar striker, Edinson Cavani erased any lofty thoughts of a victory with a double, to hand Uruguay a 2-1 lead at half-time.
Matias Vecino then scored shortly after the resumption, piling further pressure on T&T and forcing them to defend stoutly for the remainder of the contest to limit the damage to the scoreline.
Hart said there was obvious difference between the two teams.
“I was really impressed with the ball speed of Uruguay and their pressing was impressive.
They can play one touch out of the air for two or three passes and they have very dynamic movement off the ball,” he explained.
“The reason they can play that way is because of the environment they play in. They only had two players from the local league here. Everyone else is playing in foreign leagues and those leagues demand that you play at a particular speed.”
T&T are now headed to Qin Huang Dao where they take on China on Friday, in their third international Friendly in 12 days.
