DAVID SCARLETT
Apart from watching his players compete for the first time in over six months on Sunday, Trinidad and Tobago men's head coach Angus Eve was also scouting for talent at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
The Soca Warriors defeated Saint Martin 2-0 courtesy of goals from Kadeem Corbin and Real Gill, which proved to be an encouraging foundation for the Concacaf Nations League fixtures ahead.
St Martin fielded a mercurial young star in Kylie Auvray, son of their head coach Stephane Auvray, and he impressed both camps with a worthy performance. The 18 year old showed immense skill, composure and suprising power as he unlashed a long-range strike from his left foot that cannnoned off TT's crossbar.
Born in France, the young talent has Trinidadian heritage with his mother being from TT, which makes him eligible to play for the Warriors.
Eve was aware of his connection to TT and had included him in his training camp last month.
“He’s Trinidadian! He trained with us last December and I told his dad that I wanted to see this group play. He then had the opportunity to play him against us so we got to see him play (competitively) and I’m very impressed with him.
“He picks up the ball, goes at players and goes past them. He’s 18 years old and we would have loved to have him in the under-20 squad if we had known about him before. He’s with (Sporting) Kansas City at the moment and we are in contact with him – he’s definitely one of the players on our radar (to bring into the national team squad).”
Kylie’s father also spoke about his involvement with the two nations stating, “(Having) trained with the same team that we played against, it was a good chance for the Trinidad head coach to see him play and see where he’s at.”
TT’s Nations League match against the Bahamas will be on March 24 and the next fixture versus Nicaragua is scheduled for March 27.
On his own players, Eve said, “I thought that it was a good exercise for the guys. We played a very organised St Martin team and I think we looked very positive in defence and we got a lot of chances.
opening goal during TT’s friendly international against St Martin at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, on Sunday. - Nicholas Bhajan
“We could have won by a little more but we’ll take the win because the team haven’t played for a long time, and the guys haven’t played competitive football for a while. So, I think, all-in-all, it was a good exercise for us.”
The Warriors coach then highlighted that preparations are being done ahead of the upcoming Concacaf Nations League matches. “Everything that we do now is geared towards those two matches. Whatever (performance) we put out on the pitch and whichever team we put out, they will always be in focus for those two matches.
“(Against St Martin), we had good ball retention. (Utilising) the ball when we had it wasn’t as good in the first half but in the second half, it was much better. We limited them and didn’t concede many shots that Marvin (Phillip) had to worry about – I think we did that really well.” Many fans on social media criticised the team for not scoring more goals against a non-traditional footballing nation that TT should be greatly superior to. Eve addressed the low goal-scoring match by saying, “Getting the chances and creating opportunities are always good. I think we have a little more in the tank and we have some other players who can come in and score some more goals for us.
“But we still want this group (of players) to do well. We’ve been working with them for the past month and a half and I was really pleased. They weren’t as match fit as they should be, but I thought that we got them up to a very good standard (against St Martin).
“(It’s understandable that) they aren’t as sharp as they should be. Usually, Reon Moore finishes his chances. Real Gill got a gilt-edged opportunity that he would normally put away, but it’s good that he got a goal in the end.” Eve added, “In the first half, I think that the guys were a little timid. They haven’t played competitive football since the Ascension Tournament early last year. So, the staff and I analysed the performance in the first half and we increased the intensity in the second half.
“The organisation of the (St Martin) team was good. They have a number of players in the lower French leagues and they’ve actually been playing football. So, credit to us for standing up to them when we haven’t been playing (consistent) football.”
Auvray was delighted with St Martin's performance having matched up with one of the Caribbean’s top teams.
“We played a good game (before our substitutions). It was back and forth and I think we were pretty solid. But once we made the substitutions at half-time and early in the second half, our (performance) dropped and Trinidad became a lot better than us – and they were rewarded.
“But, overall, it was good because we showed that we have a strong starting eleven and we worked on a lot of things like possession buildup and I saw it (in the game). Now, we have to work on scoring goals.”