Preview

Having lost away to and won at home against Costa Rica in successive matches, this is USA’s third group stage qualifier. Trinidad&Tobago are making their first appearance in what is expected to be a tight group. Home games are clearly seen as vital, so two points is surely on USA team manager Bob Gansler’s mind. As for his adversary in the opposite dug-out, Trinidad&Tobago supremo Everald Cummings is surely under no illusions as to the size of the task ahead of him and his select. The hosts of the next World Cup, the 1994 edition, will be wanting to test themselves on the global stage prior to displaying their talents in front of a keen home audience five years on, and thus are vying to lay claim to one of the two berths which mean World Cup qualification. 

The table read thus prior to kick-off: 

Pos	Team	Pl	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	Costa Rica	4	2	0	2	3	3	4
2	Guatemala	2	1	0	1	2	2	2
3	USA	2	1	0	1	1	1	2
4	Trinidad&Tobago	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	El Salvador	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

In addition to today’s visitors, El Salvador have also not yet got going, so it is a rather underrepresentative table yet. 

The USA select sees one change to its starting eleven since the 1-0 win against Costa Rica in St. Louis two weeks earlier, and Brian Bliss is the unfortunate player to give way. Apparently, he’d been struggling with his knee recently, but he was at least deemed fit enough to take up a place on the bench. Into the eleven comes George Pastor. With Bliss in the side, they had been seen in a 4-4-2 formation during the loss in their opening fixture at Costa Rica. Pastor is seen as a more attacking player, and this could suggest a change in formation. It should furthermore be noted that inspirational midfielder Rick Davis is out injured, and the same applies for attacking midfield man Hugo Pérez. Defender Paul Krumpe is also mentioned in this same context.

As for the Trinis, they had done well to negotiate their way past Honduras, World Cup participants back in 1982, in the second round of qualification, though with their most recent qualifier taking place so far back as November 13 last year, it was more difficult to know what to expect from their line-up. However, their 40 year old head coach Cummings had only made three changes to their eleven since their 1-1 draw in Tegucigalpa. Dexter Skeene, Anton Corneal and Richard Chinapoo had been omitted, with Paul Elliott-Allen, Leonson Lewis and Maurice Alibey coming into the side on this occasion. Chinapoo, it should be mentioned, had not been released by his MISL club Dallas, who were in the middle of their play-offs. 

It is worth noticing just how young the US team is in average age: 23,3 years is relatively unheard of at international level. The Trinidad&Tobagans also sport a starting eleven which is younger than most in terms of average age: 24,9. 

Referee

It seemed quite remarkable how this CONCACAF qualifier had managed to secure a referee the status of 46 year old Italian Luigi Agnolin, no less. No great fan of fuss, Agnolin had featured as an official in several high profile fixtures. He’d run the rule over three matches at the 1986 World Cup (the famous Soviet Union vs Hungary group stage match (6-0), as well as the South American rivals duel in the round of 16 between Argentina and Uruguay, and ultimately the semi-final between West Germany and France), and later a couple of European club competition finals, to name some of his feats. 

USA (3-5-2)

Player	Notes	Age	Club
1 David Vanole		26
2 Steve Trittschuh		23
3 Bruce Murray		23
4 Marcelo Balboa		21
5 Mike Windischmann (c)		23
6 John Harkes		22
7 Tab Ramos	sub 62′	22
9 Brent Goulet		24
11 Frank Klopas		22
12 George Pastor	sub h-t	25
14 John Stollmeyer		26

Substitutes
10 Peter Vermes	on h-t	22
17 Jim Gabarra	on 62′	29
x Brian Bliss		23
x John Doyle		23
x Jeff Duback		25

Manager: Bob Gansler

Trinidad&Tobago (4-5-1)

Player	Notes	Age	Club
1 Earl Carter		33
2 Clayton Morris (c)		26
3 Brian Williams		27
4 Dexter Francis	35′	24
5 Floyd Lawrence		27
6 Marvin Fauston		21
8 Hutson Charles		23
10 Russell Latapy		20
11 Leonson Lewis		22
12 Paul Elliott-Allen	sub 62′	25
14 Maurice Alibey	sub 69′	26

Substitutes
7 Dexter Skeene		24
9 Marlon Morris	on 69′	23
17 Kerry Jamerson	on 62′	21

Manager: Everald Cummings

Tactical line-up

Match report

First half: 

After that late penalty save from David Vanole to save both points for the US team against Costa Rica last time out, they must have come into this tie rather confident, although they were up against a Trinidad&Tobagan outfit which was looking onwards and upwards. With all four fixtures in the CONCACAF championships so far ending in home wins with a one goal margin, the visitors would be hoping to be the first team to avoid such a fate. The hosts’ forward pairing of Bruce Murray and Brent Goulet gets the party started through their kick-off. 

The opening couple of minutes are uneventful as the teams are just sizing one another up, but on four minutes we see US wide right man, the Greece born Frank Klopas, wriggle his way from the right towards the penalty area, darting past left-back Marvin Faustin but then being fouled by midfielder Paul Elliott-Allen just outside the box a few yards away from the byline. Tab Ramos’ free-kick into the area eventually finds midfielder John Harkes, who had been loitering around the penalty area D, and while his shot bounces off right-back Brian Williams, the first attack ends with striker Bruce Murray heading feebly into the waiting arms of goalkeeper Earl Carter. 

Just a minute later, the hosts should have been awarded a penalty when a long punt forward from inside his own half by the right-sided among the US’ three central defenders, teenager Marcelo Balboa, sees Murray chase Trinis captain Clayton Morris, who stealthily wipes the bouncing ball away to a corner with the use of his left hand, covering it up for the Italian referee as a header. The American TV commentators are making a reference to Diego Maradona’s ‘hand of God’ which had put Argentina 1-0 up against England during the 1986 World Cup quarter-final in Mexico, and when looking at the replay, the Trinis stopper’s use of the hand is so obvious. However, it ends in a goal-kick for the visitors, so perhaps had the officials spotted an infringement somehow. The visitors could count themselves lucky.

The pitch appears to be rather uneven, something which sees players struggle to get the ball under control, and sometimes the tricky surface makes players knock simple passes out of play. This happens to Trinidad&Tobago’s deep-lying midfielder Floyd Lawrence on one occasion. 

USA play with the kind of natural confidence which you would expect from them as the home side, and in the wake of that fine 1-0 win against Costa Rica. The stadium is far from full; around 10,000 have turned out. There are also a number of Trinis fans which can be spotted with their flags. 

We see the hosts in a 3-5-2 formation, where 26 year old goalkeeper David Vanole, who is from Manhattan Beach of Los Angeles county, according to the commentators only about a quarter of an hour away from the stadium, is a big presence at the back. He appears to be quite vocal, something which is always useful to his teammates around him. There’s an early corner claim from Vanole where his shouting ‘keeeeeper!’ can be heard all around the ground. 

At the heart of their defence is captain Mike Windischmann, just 23 years of age, but then again the youthful age description is running like a common thread through the team. He is left-footed, and can even be seen delivering set-pieces into the area from advanced positions, when it is perhaps more natural to see a big centre-back take up a position inside the box for such occasions. To his left is the fair-headed Steve Trittschuh, whose task it is to look after the Trinis’ lone striker Maurice Alibey, while the already mentioned Balboa is the right-sided player among the US’ defensive trio. 

In midfield, the hosts have their most senior player in terms of age at the base: 26 year old John Stollmeyer. He is not lacking in commitment and endeavour, and ahead of him in central midfield are keen runners John Harkes and Tab Ramos, where the latter has the greater attacking responsibilities. Uruguay born Ramos is blessed with fine technical ability, while Harkes is more on the combative side. The pair of widemen are 22 year old Klopas to the right and 25 year old George Pastor along the left. The former is more likely to take on an opponent one on one, while Pastor seems to also engage in some defensive duties, with the Trinis deploying the workmanlike Hutson Charles along their right hand side of midfield. 

Up top are enthusiastic forwards Bruce Murray and Brent Goulet. The latter had had a spell in the lower English leagues with Bournemouth and Crewe Alexandra previously. He would usually be seen right through the middle, while Murray was more prone to appear in the channels, making use of his strength in holding the ball up and drawing centre-backs wide. 

12 minutes into the proceedings, Trinidad&Tobago make a swift change of play from the right to the left, where the US’ Klopas had momentarily strayed away from his flank, and thus left Faustin with a whole lot of space to take advantage of. The Trinis’ left-back moved inside as Klopas came sprinting towards him, and he managed to get away a right-footed shot which Vanole needed to tip over the bar. It had seemed for a moment that it had come back off the crossbar and fallen conveniently for Alibey in front of the goalkeeper, but the ball had actually rebounded back off the bar which is holding the net up. 

It is a fairly even game in the opening 15 minutes, where the visitors may sit deep and wait for the hosts to come at them, but they defend well, and are also not foreign to making decent use of the ball themselves, as they have a number of skillful players in their midst. Trinidad&Tobago have a back four which had featured in all four of their qualifiers to reach the CONCACAF championships/the groupstage, and this familiarity with one another appears to favour them, as their defence is a tight-knit unit that’s well aware of their respective duties. 

Between the sticks is Earl Carter for the first time in the current World Cup qualification, though. He needs to be on his game from the offset, he shows off his massive throws, and he seems to communicate well with his defenders, where skipper Clayton Morris is the lynchpin as their right-sided centre-back. Alongside him is Dexter Francis, a powerful, combative player who is mainly focused on USA’s Goulet. The previously mentioned Marvin Faustin is a fine outlet along the left, as he’s willing to move across the halfway line to contribute in operations inside enemy territory in support of the winger ahead of him. Right-back Brian Williams, so easily recognizeable with his long ponytail, is more a conventional full-back with not so much enthusiasm for coming forward. He’s keeping check on Pastor. 

Their midfield quintet contribute well defensively, as you would expect. They operate with Floyd Lawrence as their deep-lying shield in front of their centre-backs, while Paul Elliott-Allen and not least Russell Latapy have more advanced roles, and where the latter is on playmaking duties. Not that Latapy is in contact with the ball a whole lot early on, as Trinidad&Tobago’s main objective is seeing off any early threat from the hosts. However, it is clear for everyone to see that their little number 10 thrives in possession whenever he’s given the opportunity. Along the right is the industrious Hutson Charles, very much a two-way player, as he’s not your typical wide man. Leonson Lewis out on the left flank is much more your standard winger with attacking intentions. 

In the lone striker’s role is Maurice Alibey, tall and gangly, and he’s usually up against Trittschuh in the US defence. Being 6’5, Alibey is a real handful in the air, but he’s also not lost along the deck, as he’s able to make use of the ball along the ground to some effect. He beats Vanole to the ball after it had taken a deflection off a defender and reached him in the air 14 yards out, and the ‘keeper had a let-off as Alibey probably reserved himself somewhat eyeing the big custodian coming towards him, and his header went well wide of the unguarded net. 

Goalscoring opportunities are few and far between in the early phases of the game, but it is still a rather seeworthy affair, as both teams give as good as they get. They’re both determined outfits, and both have players capable of taking the ball down and try to be imaginary. However, the home side are not using their wide players to great effect, and it should be noted how Pastor along the left specifically struggles to accelerate past his full-back. The Trinis are more in the game, and look to make a breakthrough themselves, though they’re rather quick at aiming the ball in the forward direction, while it could be argued how Latapy would’ve appreciated to be more in contact with the ball. On 25 minutes Harkes knocks a ball over the top for Goulet to chase, and Dexter needs to be alert, although his clearance almost catches his own goalkeeper out. It eventually clears the bar by a foot. 

The hosts rack up a further couple of goalscoring opportunities as the game edges towards the half hour mark, and John Harkes is having an excellent spell in midfield to create these chances. The 22 year old midfield schemer is both spreading passes from the centre of the pitch and moves into advanced positions, and when he picks up a fine Stollmeyer pass over the top of the defence and evades the offside trap, Harkes whips it into the centre for Goulet to sidefoot the ball just over the bar from midair. The next opportunity is a massive one when Harkes, this time on the right, advances towards the byline and squares the ball across the six yard area, only to see Murray stab it wide with the goal gaping towards him. It is a dreadful miss. 

The US team looks the more likely for most of the opening 45 minutes to break the deadlock, and of course they should have on the half hour when Murray had that glaring miss. In open play their midfield looked dominant, with Harkes really coming to the fore and showing off his tenacity and his ability to boss a game through presence and passing. Their trio of Stollmeyer, Ramos and Harkes outshone the central midfield three of the Trinis, where neither player really asserted himself on the game, and with Latapy subdued for most of the first half. In fact, we see their wide right midfielder Charles being pulled into a more central position towards the latter stages of the half, possibly in an attempt to try and wrestle the grip on the game from the US midfield away. 

They huff and puff, the hosts, but they can’t work another great scoring chance akin to the one which Harkes had laid on a plate for Murray, but there are some efforts towards Carter’s goal nevertheless, although none cause the visiting goalkeeper any bother. Their relatively anonymous wide players, although Klopas had shown some very early promise, rarely get into good position from the flanks, but when Pastor drops a bit deeper and earns himself some space, he does show on a couple of occasions how he can tread a ball through for the forwards to run on to. On one such occasion, ten minutes from the break, Trinis centre-back Francis wins himself the only yellow card of the half after clattering into Murray from behind. 

Trinidad&Tobago could have nicked a late goal when a cross field pass from an advancing Francis reaches Alibey inside the area, and the big striker easily wins against Trittschuh in the air, only to see his cushioned header just left of the upright with Vanole caught in no-man’s land. It was their best opportunity of a half they were otherwise second best in. 

Half-time score: USA 0, Trinidad&Tobago 0. 

Second half: 

When the two sets of players take up their positions and prepare to inaugurate the final 45 minutes, we’re being informed by the American commentators that George Pastor has been left behind in the dressing room, with forward Peter Vermes coming on in his place. As could perhaps have been expected, it wasn’t quite a like for like swap, so in practice it meant that Bruce Murray would switch to the wide left role which Pastor had held in the first half. Vermes took up the position alongside Brent Goulet as USA continued in their 3-5-2 formation. There were no changes to the away side’s eleven. 

The hosts continue in the same vein which they had played the first half, namely by chasing that elusive goal. There’s a sloppy moment from Trinis right-back Williams as his back pass intended for goalkeeper Carter crosses the byline for a US left wing corner. While Trinidad&Tobago successfully defend the initial set-piece, they’ll soon concede another one on the right hand side outside the area from a USA perspective. Stollmeyer’s delivery is headed out, but only to Ramos, who hits it first time back in, and the ball finds its way to defender Steve Trittschuh, who has avoided the offside trap. Expertly, he takes it down on his chest to bring the high ball under control, before he swings at it full volley nine yards out to see it end up high into the back of the net, with Carter standing zero chance of saving. It is a real quality finish by the blonde defender for a one-nothing US lead. 

How would the visitors respond to finding themselves a goal down? There seems to be no immediate danger for the hosts, who had seen Costa Rica come back into the game once the US had gone ahead in their most recent qualifier. They’d managed to hold on to the two points on that occasion, thanks largely to some heroics from goalkeeper Vanole, who had also saved a late penalty. Here, Harkes continues to be a major presence in the centre of the pitch, and his tigerish style of play ensures that the hosts remain in control in the minutes succeeding the goal. 

However, there’s gradually a sense that Trinidad&Tobago are not in Los Angeles just to make up the numbers. They may have lost six successive matches against USA, but they start clawing their way into the game through some higher frequency in midfield, and with some more purpose behind their passing. Russell Latapy had struggled to get a grip on the game so far, but he’s seen increasingly in possession, and from a rather deep position he will look to inspire the players around him as they try to avoid defeat in this their opening group stage qualifier. 

For all of the US players’ commitment, they do seem to have a dip in performances as the second half passes the ten minute mark, and it could so easily have proved a disappointing turning point when the Trinis rack up a couple of very good goalscoring opportunities within a minute of each other, on 57 and 58 minutes. The first sees a clever Latapy chip into the box find Lewis, though with his back to Vanole’s goal he goes for a spectacular scissors’ kick, which ends up a yard to the left of the ‘keeper’s upright. Vanole would’ve struggled to get to it had it hit the target. Next up is an even bigger chance when Lewis’ teasing cross from the left finds Alibey in the centre, and his touch would’ve ensured the ball to end up in the back of the net had it not been for the brilliance of Vanole, who somehow saves it with his leg from point blank range. 

Given how they had gradually lost the initiative as the second half had progressed, it made sense for US supremo Gansler to withdraw Ramos and replace him with the experienced Jim Gabarra. While Ramos had assisted for their goal, he was also the one player in their central midfield trio who engaged less in physical scraps and defensively, and in this scenario, the home side’s management could see the game drift out of their control unless they acted. 29 year old Gabarra would, however, not directly slot into the position left vacant by Uruguay born Ramos, but instead take up the wide left midfield role, something which saw Murray slot into the centre. The forward was both workmanlike and robust, so Gansler would’ve seen him as a more ideal foil for Stollmeyer and Harkes the way the game was going. 

At the same time as Gabarra had come on for Ramos, there was also a first change for the visitors of the afternoon, with Elliott-Allen leaving the field to be replaced by Kerry Jamerson. This turned out to be a like for like switch, as the powerful Jamerson took up that midfield role which the departing man had held. It could be understood how manager Cummings would have wanted Latapy to remain in his midst, as we had seen the little playmaker gain an increasing influence on proceedings. Elliott-Allen had hardly excelled, and it seemed a logical change to withdraw him.

The pair of changes seem to have the desired effect from a US point of view, as they regain some of that control which they’d seen slip away somewhat. Murray is another tireless worker, and adds a bit more bite in that midfield area where Ramos had previously not offered so much off the ball. This phase of the game doesn’t have a lot of free-flowing, attacking football, but the hosts won’t care, as all they’re interested in is hanging on to those two points which are currently in their pockets. Jamerson, the new man in the Trinis midfield, has so far not been able to assert himself on the game, though he clearly brings with him plenty in terms of physical attributes. Is that what they need now, though? They’ll need to get going again and think more positively and forwardly to try and get that equalizer which will earn them a share of the spoils. 

While it is too early to establish as a fact that the US team are beginning to feel confident, there appears to be little threat coming from the visitors as the second half progresses. When they do attempt to mount something in terms of attacking play, it seems to happen through individual endeavour rather than a team effort, such as when the otherwise anonymous Charles makes a burst along the right hand side, only to see his teammate Alibey be whistled off for a foul against his marker Trittschuh. This subsequently prompts the visitors’ second and final change for the afternoon, with the lone striker being replaced by Marlon Morris. As it is a straight swap, there is no change in the Trinis’ 4-5-1 formation. 

Again, the game seems to open up, something which appears to be to the visitors’ advantage. Trinidad&Tobago seem to have more mobility up top after that second substitution, with Marlon Morris offering quicker feet than his far taller predecessor in the lone striker’s role, and Latapy seems to have been moved higher up the pitch to offer Morris support, and then there’s Charles coming to life from the right hand side. Their best opportunity in the second half yet arrives from a set-piece situation, though, with right-back Williams finding substitute Morris unmarked ten yards out, albeit he can’t keep his header down. A minute or two earlier, USA had drawn a save from Carter after Goulet had moved into the left hand channel to feed his strike partner Vermes, who struck it low and first time with the outside of his right boot from 20 yards, only to see the Trinis goalkeeper dive to his right to make the stop. 

Towards the end of the game, USA seem to be in control, although with just a single goal’s advantage, they’re never further away from disappointment than a sloppy moment in their own half, and on a couple of occasions they do dally on the ball and play a couple of low quality passes inside their own third of the pitch, something which is almost exploited by Trinis striker Morris, who latches on to a through ball from Lewis with five minutes left for play. However, Vanole comes quickly off his line to narrow the angle, and Morris must make his attempt midflight. He sees it bounce off the big ‘keeper’s chest and away to safety from a home perspective. Gansler will surely be upset that they keep taking risks deep inside their own half with so little time left on the clock. 

With just over two minutes left before full time, Trinidad&Tobago are rewarded for their persistence as they draw level thanks to a composed finish from Hutson Charles as he breaks through following a clever dummy from Williams’ ball forward, and then Morris heads the ball into his path. He races towards goal, and finishes low to the left of Vanole with his left foot. To have equalized so late in the game must have felt marvellous, with the group as tight as it is turning out to be. For the hosts, though, who had rode their luck as they defended that 1-0 lead against Costa Rica last time out, they were not so fortunate this time around. 

The solid Italian referee added nearly a minute to the 90, but there are no further opportunities, and the teams share the points in a game where the hosts probably felt they should have controlled it better in the second part of the final 45. Credit to the visitors for never giving up, and that point could prove to be an important one. 

Full time: USA 1, Trinidad&Tobago 1.