ATLANTA – New Trinidad and Tobago head coach Stephen Hart says more young players need to be drafted on to the national side following their exit from the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States.
Hart says a new crop of young players must be blooded as part of a new thrust to raise the standard of the country’s football after the Soca Warriors suffered a disheartening 1-0 loss to Mexico in the quarterfinals over the weekend.
“I think we have to sit down and look at the direction of the national team. Bring in some young players and give them some experience,” Hart said in an interview with the Trinidad Express.
“We had quite a few in this tournament here, but there are others we would like to see in future games and assess what work needs to be done with the young players based on what we saw in this tournament.”
The Soca Warriors defeated Honduras 2-0 last week to advance to the quarterfinals.
While the Trinidadians were eventually knocked out, Honduras enjoyed better fortunes by pulling off a 1-0 win over Costa Rica to secure a semi-final spot.
“I think we need to possess the ball better, keep it out of the feet of the opposition,” said Hart.
“That needs to improve and our ability to attack with a little more variety. The fullbacks didn’t get involved at all and we need to work on that.”
Trinidad and Tobago and Caribbean champions Cuba were the last two remaining regional teams to bow out of the Gold Cup after the Cubans were demolished by Panama 6-1. (CMC)
