Trinidad and Tobago's national footballers turned a bright start into a heart-breaking finish in Bangkok yesterday evening as they gave up three second-half goals to go down 3-2 to Thailand at the Supachalasai Stadium in Bangkok.
A first half which saw coach Bertille St Clair's team enjoy some of their best football in some time went all bad as skipper Angus Eve and his men ran out of gas and were outplayed in the second session.Utility player Anthony Rougier put Trinidad and Tobago ahead with a well-taken header on the far post from a pinpoint Arnold Dwarika right side cross following a well-orchestrated play with Brent Rahim and Gary Glasgow also involved.
The goal was an obvious lift to T&T and they pushed on to dominate against the home side who were playing in front some 3,000 fans who were clapping and cheering along to some entertaining music from the visiting Angostura Woodbrook Playboys Orchestra.
On 30 minutes, China-based striker Glasgow-who along with his fellow club teammate Dwarika produced their best performance for the national team in some time-scored the goal of the match.
Glasgow met a neat flick-on header on the break by Jason Scotland and moved into the left side of the box before stopping and picking his spot, sending a right footer into the top right corner past a stranded Panuwat Tangnurat in goal for Thailand.
T&T had numerous opportunities to extend their lead, with Dwarika, Scotland and Kenwyne Jones going close on separate occasions.
The T&T defence of Keyeno Thomas, Derek King, Marlon Rojas and Jones did well to keep the Thais at bay and goalkeeper Duarance Williams also made a couple important stops to ensure the visitors went into the half with a 2-0 cushion.
But the entire match was played in humid conditions and it appeared as though jet lag stepped into the T&T outfit, allowing the Thais to take control on the resumption.
Thailand went on the attack in the second half and reduced the deficit in the 60th minute.
After coming off the bench, Narongchai Vachiraban scored from a right-footed shot on the edge of the penalty area.
Six minutes later, Sutee Suksomkij got the equaliser after receiving the ball from Narongchai on the right flank.
Thailand continued to improve as the game wore on and created a string of opportunities before Pichitpong Choeichiu, who was substituted for Datsakorn Thonglao, managed to rifle in a superb 15-metre shot past a diving Williams.
St Clair introduced Silvio Spann, Kerry Baptiste and Scott Sealy late in the match but there was little they could do except for a low Spann free kick which forced the 'keeper into action.
Thailand also kept on pressing and were almost rewarded with a ? fourth goal late on against a T&T side which was playing without Stern John, Brent Sancho, Dennis Lawrence, Marvin Andrews and Clayton Ince.
St Clair was still optimistic despite the disappointing result and will hope to get back on the recovery road as the team leaves for Seoul this morning for next week's friendly against the South Koreans, who defeated Bahrain 2-0 yesterday.
"I was? pleased with the performance in the first half but disappointed about the second. It seems that many of the guys were still feeling the effects of jet-lag and they became very leg weary as the game went on," St Clair told Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) media officer Shaun Fuentes.
"Unfortunately,? Tony Rougier had to come off as he was suffering from dizziness and that made things a bit more difficult. We couldn't use young (Densil) Theobald because he is down with a virus and one or two others were also affected, so we were limited.
"In the first half the guys were marking and tracking very well, moving the ball around and they? scored two great goals. But as fatigue set in, we stopped moving and the spaces opened for them," stated St Clair.
"Still, we should have kept them out despite the tiredness. Some may feel that we should avoid these long trips and play closer to home, but I think this is a very good experience, especially for the? younger ones. They have to learn to play under pressure and still perform even when they may be? exhausted.
"That is the type of attitude that we will need for the World Cup games, especially when you meet Mexico in Mexico.
"The next game against South Korea will be even tougher because they are a top 20 team. I welcome the challenge and the team can only benefit from such an experience," St Clair concluded.
Of yesterday's opponents, "We played better than in the last two warm-up matches. Sutee was a big help to Srayuth in the front line. I'm very happy with the result and their performance," Thai ? head coach Chatchai Paholpat said after his team's win.
T&T starting XI:
Duarance Williams, Keyeno Thomas, Derek King, Kenwyne Jones, Marlon Rojas, Angus Eve, Jason Scotland, Gary Glasgow, Arnold Dwarika, Anthony Rougier, Brent Rahim.
