Cuba defeats Suriname 4-2
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IT was a hard-fought game from start to finish, with pressure and momentum building with each elapsing minute; but at the end, St. Kitts-Nevis outscored Trinidad and Tobago 5-2.
The match was played last night (Nov. 27) and was the fourth of six to be played as part of the CFU Finals of the Under-23 Olympic Qualifiers.
The fast-paced game saw its first goal in the 17th minute coming off the boot of the Vice Captain of team St. Kitts-Nevis, Javeim Blanchette.
The score was equalised in the 26th minute when Trinidad and Tobago’s Shahdon Winchester launched the ball past St. Kitts-Nevis’ goalkeeper to find the back of the nets.
The on-field battle waged on with Romaine Sawyer launching an all-out attack on his opponents, effectively copping two goals in the 48th and 60th minutes, giving St. Kitts-Nevis a 3-1 advantage.
That stance was further strengthened by Blanchette who bagged a fourth goal in the 68th minute.
Sean De Silva was successful in securing the second and final goal for Trinidad and Tobago in the 83rd minute.
The final goal for that game went to St. Kitts-Nevis in the 89th minute and scored by Sawyer.
With three goals under his belt for that game, Sawyer’s – as expressed by some – “is one of the most impressive hat-tricks ever seen”.
The match between Cuba and Suriname was also a hard-fought game, which resulted in the former leaving the match with bragging rights.
The first half of the game was clearly Suriname’s with Donovan Loswijk and Evani Esperance scoring one goal each in the 17th and 42nd minutes respectively.
However, the second half of the game held much promise for the Cubans with Heveil Cordoves Gonzalez scoring in the 59thminute, Dalain Aira Fernandez in the 62nd and Maikel Chang Ramirez in the 79th.
The game’s final goal, considered the most impressive of the evening, came off the boot of Gonzalez in the last minute of play.
He was given a true-pass by one of his teammates and wasted no time in converting the opportunity into a goal. As the ball travelled towards him, he took to the air and, as Pele did some decades ago, he bicycled the ball clear into the back of Suriname’s nets.
The final games of this tournament are scheduled for tomorrow (Nov. 28) when Suriname will play Trinidad and Tobago at 6:00 p.m. and host country St. Kitts-Nevis will take on Cuba at 8:00 p.m.
