June 25 – St Kitts and Nevis’s winning run was ended by Trinidad and Tobago who beat them 3-0 in the first group game of their Gold Cup finalls debut at the DRV PNK stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
It was Trinidad and Tobago’s first Gold Cup group stage win since the 2015 edition. They qualified for the group stage without having to go through the Preliminary play offs after Nicaragua were banned for fielding an illegal player.
It was a significant result for Trinidad and Tobago who are still labouring under the imposition of a FIFA Normalisation Committee who can’t quite seem to get the job done.
Even so, the team did get their job done on the pitch and now move on to St Louis where they meet long time Caribbean rivals Jamaica in what will be a real test of their return to Gold Cup form. Jamaica drew with USA in their opening game but really should have won.
Saint Kitts and Nevis, the first team to ever qualify for the Gold Cup finals from the third tier of Concacaf’s Nations League, will meet USA. A daunting prospect for a Caribbean island with a population of less than 50,000.
Trinidad and Tobago enjoyed the bulk of possession in the first half and scored on 43 minutes with a brilliant Alvin Jones take down and volley. Ajani Fortune, entering from the bench, doubled the lead on 65 minutes with a direct run at the St Kitts defense before firing in from the edge of the box.
Levi Garcia’s deep cross was deflected off a Saint Kitts defender into goal for the third.
Jamaica will test Trinidad’s comeback. The USA will test St Kitts’ resolve.
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