Trinidad and Tobago's under-17 women's football team were knocked from their group B Concacaf perch when they fell 1-0 to Honduras in their first-round 2025 Fifa Under-17 Women's World Cup qualifier at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva on January 31.
However, the result didn't derail coach Ayana Russell's team from advancing to the next round, as they will progress as one of the two best second-placed teams.
With TT leading Honduras on the group B table via a superior goal difference before kickoff, a draw would have seen coach Ayana Russell's team progressing to the final round of Concacaf qualifying as one of six group winners.
However, after 90 minutes of scrappy, tense and sometimes feisty football, TT fell to second spot in group B as a 76th-minute goal from Paula Guardiola gave Honduras all three points and took them to nine points in the group. TT finished the group with six points and a healthy goal differential of +6.
After the conclusion of three other groups on January 31, TT's goal differential bettered all the other second-placed teams: Bermuda (+5); Guatemala (0); and Cuba (0). Groups E and F concluded after press time on February 1.
'I'm definitely proud of them and the experience they got and we could only improve on that,' Russell told Newsday.
The coach said improvements would be needed in all facets of their game for the next round of qualifying.
'I think in all areas, we definitely have to improve to go on to the next stage because the competition will be tougher.'
TT put a combined seven goals behind the US Virgin Islands and Belize in their first two matches, but they never established a rhythm or pattern of play going forward against a dogged and determined Honduras outfit that needed a victory to guarantee their qualification to the next round.
From as early as the third minute, TT realised they were in a game when goalkeeper Zaira Aimey stretched to pluck a dangerous right-side cross from reaching a lurking Honduran player in the six-yard box.
Close to the end of the half, Aimey was also called into action when she reacted smartly to charge down an effort from winger Jazlyn Sanchez after a mad scramble in the TT box.
Outside of those two moments of discomfort for Aimey, much of the first half was spent with referee Glenda Lopez warning both sets of players for petulant behaviour after unnecessary off-the-ball incidents. One such incident came in the 36th minute when TT's star attacker Orielle Martin and Honduras skipper Yensi Ferrera received yellow cards for squaring up to each other.
It was part of a frustrating night for Martin, who netted four times in a 5-0 win over USVI.
The incident set the tone for the rest of the contest, with TT's best chance arguably coming via a 15th-minute free kick from captain Kanika Rodriguez which sailed over the bar.
That tension even spilled into the crowd after the final whistle, as some home supporters threw objects at Lopez and her officiating team as they tried to make their way off the pitch.
In a media rele
