After Trinidad and Tobago's men's football team's goalless draw with Jamaica at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar on Sunday, head coach Angus Eve said he was pleased with the two-match friendly exercise, but wants the overall fitness of local players to improve to meet international standards.
In the first of two friendly matches on Friday, Jamaica emerged with a 1-0 win at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, courtesy of a second-half Kahiem Dixon goal.
On Sunday, playing before roughly 1,600 fans, neither team could breach the opposition's defence, with TT's best moment coming from a 43rd-minute strike from Jamaican-based forward Nathaniel James which was ruled out for offside.
TT were unable to get a shot on target in the game, though French-born winger Kaile Auvray showed glimpses of his quality with two solo runs just before the hour mark. There was also a presentable chance for TT's lanky English-based striker Justin Obikwu in the 79th minute, but opposing custodian Jayden Hibbert sped off his line to thwart the one-on-one opportunity.
Eve said players such as Adrian Foncette, Rhondel Gibson, Kai Moos and central defenders Jamal Jack and Robert Primus played well over the two matches. With the TT coach giving debuts to at least seven players in the friendlies, he said getting them to the desired standard remains a work in progress.
"Everything you do is about stages. Everything about life is stages. Every time you go up a level, the work is more intense. Every time you go up a different level, it means you have to be more prepared," Eve said, at Sunday's post-match briefing.
"We have to look at what the international standards are and we have to work harder to get the players fitter so they will be ready to play sharper and faster. The football now is more athletic. Jamaica's coach, Heimir Hallgrimsson, is saying the league in Jamaica is too slow. I find the same thing here."
With TT in the middle of preparations for their crucial Copa America 2024 play-in game versus Canada on March 23, Eve said the friendlies gave him a better gauge of his players' physical presence.
"Sometimes people ask for players to get opportunities and these are the opportunities we have given to them over these two matches.
"You get to see who could stand up to physicality and stand up to the pace of the game and stuff like that. When I say our league is a little too slow, normally I get licks for it sometimes."
[caption id="attachment_1067818" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Trinidad and Tobago winger Kaile Auvray takes flight against Jamaica in friendly action at Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar on Sunday. Photo courtesy TTFA. -[/caption]
Eve said he used the two matches to give more extensive playing time to the Mt Pleasant Football Academy pair of Auvray and James, who "have not been playing consistently" with the reigning Jamaican champions.
Auvray started on the left side of TT's attack, and James in the centre-forward position, with the AC PoS pair of John-Paul Rochford and Duane Muckette starting
