TRINIDAD and Tobago collected their eighth Caribbean Cup title when they beat Haiti 3-0 in the Copa Caribe football final at the Hasely Crawford Stadium last night.
Dale Saunders sent 8,000 home fans cheering with a 28th minute goal, before
Brent Rahim and Arnold Dwarika struck in the second half to secure a remarkable
sixth title in the last seven tournaments for Trinidad and Tobago.
T&T were hardly threatened by the Haitians, who failed to reproduce the
dazzling form which saw them whip Martinique 5-0 in Tuesday’s semifinals.
Nottingham Forest striker Stern John made the first goal for T&T.
He took on the Haitian defence in an enterprising dribble and fired a shot which
goalkeeper Géteau Ferdinand deflected, only for Saunders to tap in from close
range.
Haiti, playing an uncharacteristically slow game, enjoyed a lot of ball
possession but hardly pressured the unbeaten T&T.
Rahim deflated Haiti when he knocked in a long cross from Mickey Trotman on the
right in the 67th minute to make it 2-0, and 10 minutes later, Saunders found
Dwarika unmarked in the six-yard box and he slid the ball past Ferdinand to
complete the win.
Trinidad and Tobago also claimed two individual awards, as lanky defender Dennis
Lawrence was named tournament MVP, and Clayton Ince grabbed the Best Goalkeeper
award.
Cuba, beaten 1-0 by Martinique in the third place play-off on Thursday night,
took the Fair Play Trophy, and Haiti’s Golman Pierre got the Golden Boot Award
as the top scorer with five goals.
(Trinidad & Tobago)—Clayton Ince, Dale Saunders, Marvin Andrews, Ansil
Elcock, Dennis Lawrence, Reynold Carrington, Avery John, Arnold Dwarika (Gary
Glasgow-82nd), Stern John (Nigel Pierre-73rd), Brent Rahim, Mickey Trotman
(Lyndon Andrews-73rd).
(Haiti)—Géteau Ferdinand, Roosevelt Désir, Frantz Gilles, Michel Gabriel,
Pierre Richard Bruny, Renel Mompremier (Clément Cléjust-51st), Chrismanor
Telusma, Golman Pierre (Pierre Roland-80th), Peter Germain, Likenson Chéry,
Jacques Pierre.
By IRVING WARD
TRINIDAD and Tobago did not flatter to deceive at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, last night, romping home to an emphatic 3-0 victory over Haiti to lift the 2001 Copa Caribe title.
The victory gave T&T an unprecedented eighth lien on the regional
title and the honour of once again being called undisputed kings of
Caribbean football.
Having already copped the title in 1989, '92, '94, '95, '96, '97 and
last year, midfielders Dale Saunders, Brent Rahim and Arnold Dwarika all
found the net to ensure T&T kept the Copa title here.
The success was the first at the regional level for T&T coach Ian
Porterfield and a morale boasting win for skipper Marvin Andrews' side
heading into next month's crucial World Cup qualifier against Honduras.
However, Porterfield could not have been all that happy after another
under par performance which only stood out because of the inability of
the Haitians to reproduce the flair which had given them a semifinal win
over one-time champion Martinique.
After both teams took a while to settle in, T&T took a 21st minute
lead through Saunders. Lurking inside the six-metre box, Saunders shot
past Haitian keeper Geteau Ferdinand into an open goal after the keeper
had only managed to partially block a shot from England-based striker
Stern John.
But an equally appalling display of finishing would deny the estimated
12,000 fans who turned up of more goals to celebrate in the half.
Just three minutes later, John found himself in a one-on-one with the
Haitian keeper after the assistant referee's failure to flag him for an
obvious offside as he ran on to a Dwarika pass.
To the chagrin of his team-mates, John put his chipped effort straight
into the chest of an advancing Ferdinand and Saunders somehow could not
get a boot on the loose ball inside the six-metre box with the goal at
his mercy.
In the 27th minute Dwarika turned villain when he robbed last stopper
Pierre Richard Bruny inside the penalty area but shot poorly at the
overworked Ferdinand who parried it away to safety.
Porterfield, no doubt, would have had stern words for his players at the
break. And this showed in the second half as T&T gave a better
display of finishing, at least early on.
Rahim increased the scoreline in the 68th minute when he placed his shot
from seven metres out high into the net after Mickey Trotman's
right-side cross eluded the entire Haitian defence and team-mate John.
The Haitian resistance now broken, Dwarika completed the scoring four
minutes later when he ran onto a neatly threaded pass from Trotman and
placed his shot to the left of Ferdinand to the delight of the now
"Mexican-style" waving fans. T&T 3 (Dale Saunders 21st,
Brent Rahim 68th, Arnold Dwarika 74th) v Haiti 0
Teams:
T&T - Clayton Ince, Marvin Andrews, Ansil Elcock, Avery John, Dennis Lawrence, Reynold Carrington, Brent Rahim, Mickey Trotman (Lyndon Andrews 80th), Dale Saunders, Arnold Dwarika (Gary Glasgow 84th), Stern John (Nigel Pierre 80th)
Haiti - Geteau Ferdinand, Pierre Richard Bruny, Frant Gilles, Likenson Chery, Jacque Pierre, Roosevelt Desir, Michel Gabriel, Chrismonor Telusma, Peter Germain, Golman Pierre (Pierre Roland 81st), Renel Mompremier (Clercant Clerjuste 52nd).