TT head coach Angus Eve expressed his satisfaction with his team's mauling of The Bahamas in World Cup qualifying action on the evening of June 8.
Following a lacklustre draw against Grenada on June 5 at Hasely Crawford Stadium, the Soca Warriors travelled to St Kitts to face The Bahamas in an attempt to make amends. TT – in remembrance of the goal-less draw versus the same opponents who eliminated them from the 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign – ran rampant and slaughtered their Caribbean counterparts 7-1 at the St Kitts and Nevis Football Association Technical Centre.
Braces from Malcolm Shaw and Duane Muckette, along with goals from Alvin Jones, Reon Moore and Nathaniel James led the Warriors to their second largest win in their World Cup qualifying history (behind an 8-0 hammering of the Dominican Republic in 1996).
Despite playing against significantly weaker opposition, Eve said he was pleased to see his men bounce back from the “disappointing” draw against Grenada.
“The result was the most important thing for us,” said Eve. "We wanted to win the game and get three points. As the game went along, we believed that we could have gotten more (goals) and we pushed for more. (The win) has taken us up to four points, which is most important.”
Eve defended his decision to revert to a defensive line-up following an open, offensive system against the Grenadians, which did not work well for the Trinidadian gaffer. He explained, “I thought (that) we were a little flat in the first game; we never got going until the second half, and we wanted to right that wrong.
“We did it (against The Bahamas). The passing and fluency was much better. It doesn’t matter (if it’s just The Bahamas), this team threw us out of World Cup qualifying last time around and we didn’t (even) score. So (this win) shows improvement for us, (scoring) seven.”
The only flaw from Eve’s troops was the goal conceded in the 87th minute, one that the head coach described as “disappointing,” particularly because the Warriors were determined to keep a clean sheet.
Eve handed debuts to Canadian-born midfielder SteffenYeates and Dutch-based Dantaye Gilbert, who both impressed with silky performances, and can be possible mainstays in Eve’s squad in the future.
“I thought they (Yeates and Gilbert) did very well. Yeates is an intelligent footballer, he’s good on the ball and creative. Dantaye is (also) doing well. He came into the camp with a niggling ankle injury, so we wanted to give him the opportunity for this match.”
Eve also praised Shaw and Muckette for their eye-catching performances and declared his confidence in the pair.
His focus now turns to the Concacaf Nations League in September. He is hopeful that, unlike this international window, he will have all of his players back in a favourable amount of time before the competition begins so that his team may be able to “gel” and build chemistry.
Eve also intends to give more debuts and opportunities to more young
