Under-20 footballers get the boot

St Vincent and the Grenadines’ run in the Caribbean Football Union’s Under-20 qualifiers ended last weekend in Trinidad and Tobago.

The young Vincentians ended at the bottom of the four team grouping with a solitary win in their opening match over eventual leaders St. Kitts/Nevis.

After their one nil triumph, St Vincent and the Grenadines was beaten 3-1 by the Dominican Republic and 3-0 by Trinidad and Tobago.

In what turned out to be a very competitive group, St Kitts/Nevis rebounded from their loss to overcome the host 1-0 and the Dominican Republic 2-1, while Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic drew 1-1. {{more}}

Trinidad and Tobago advanced ahead of the Dominican Republic on a better goal differential, as both team ended on four points.

Assistant Coach of the St Vincent and the Grenadines squad Earl Samuel, blamed “lack of commitment and passion for winning” for the team’s demise.

“The guys lacked the drive for the game even though we tried to motivate them as much as possible”, Samuel said.

“They were well prepared but lacked the mental toughness, he lamented.

“The other teams wanted to win more than we did,” he observed.

Put in a must win situation last Sunday against the host, Samuel said that did not have any effect on them.

“A win against Trinidad and Tobago would have sent us to the next stage, but the players were flat and did not lift their game,” he stated.

Summarising the Vincentians performance, Samuel said, “there were no real outstanding individuals”.

He however opined that Romano Snagg who scored both goals registered by the Vincentians and goalkeeper Dwayne Peters, as those who performed creditably.

St Kitts/Nevis and Haiti who led the other CFU grouping that also involved Jamaica, Bermuda and the Netherlands Antilles automatically go on to the CONCACAF Zone. The third spot will be decided between Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.

Three teams from the CONCACAF region will book places to next year’s world cup in Canada.

St Vincent and the Grenadines went into the second round buoyant after toppling St Lucia, Grenada and Barbados in the preliminary round.