The Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team will again be without the services of attacking midfielder Kevin Molino when they face The Bahamas and Nicaragua in crucial Concacaf Nations League fixtures on 23 and 27 March respectively.
Molino, 32, is ruled out, according to a TTFA Media release, due to a knee injury sustained in training with Major League Soccer (MLS) team Columbus Crew last week.
(via TTFA Media)
The clever midfielder is easily the most prolific Trinidad and Tobago scorer of his era with 23 international goals from 57 appearances. The next highest active scorers are Joevin Jones (85 caps, 9 goals) and Levi Garcia (38 caps, 8 goals).
However, Molino missed the Soca Warriors’ entire Nations League campaign so far through injury. Notably, even when Molino was available—like at the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup—he did not seem to be an obvious fit in coach Angus Eve’s tactical plans.
Molino scored the first goal of Eve’s tenure as coach, as he buried a penalty in Trinidad and Tobago’s 6-1 Gold Cup qualifying win over Montserrat on 2 July 2021.
However, in the Gold Cup group stage, Eve listed Molino among his substitutes in two of their three matches—against Mexico and in a must-win affair against Guatemala respectively.
It has been more than three years since Molino played in Trinidad and Tobago. His last appearance on home soil came in a 2-0 loss to Honduras at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain on 10 October 2019.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/ Wired868)
At present, Eve’s National Senior Team are on a three-game unbeaten streak and can secure promotion back to tier one of the Concacaf Nations League as well as book a spot at the upcoming Gold Cup with successive wins this month.
And, despite Molino’s absence, Eve is likely to have the services of speedy attacker Levi Garcia who is set to return from injury this weekend for Greece top flight team, AEK Athens FC.
Garcia is the joint top scorer of Eve’s tenure thus far, alongside Defence Force winger Reon Moore who got the only goal in a 1-0 win over Jamaica in Montego Bay on 11 March 2023.