A brilliant second half strike forced Trinidad and Tobago to share the points in a 1-1 draw with minnows Puerto Rico while lowly ranked Montserrat stunned Central American giants El Salvador with a late goal to earn a point in another 1-1 stalemate, in the opening round of Concacaf qualifiers for the 2022 Fifa World Cup on Sunday.
Playing in Group F at the Mayagüez Athletics Stadium, T&T were lucky to escape to the half-time break without conceding after Puerto Rico missed a plethora of chances to get on the scoresheet.
However, things changed quickly in the second half as Joevin Jones put the visitors ahead in the 54th minute from close range.
Canada-born Ryan Telfer swung a left-sided cross into the box where Levi Garcia won a headed challenge for Jones to slot in from six yards.
Garcia came close to doubling his side’s advantage soon after when his curling corner hit the far post but Puerto Rico, ranked 76 spots below T&T in the Fifa rankings at 179th, then hit back in the 72nd minute through substitute Ricardo Rivera.
On the field for only 10 minutes, the 23-year-old wrapped his head around Raul Gonzales’s pinpoint cross into the box to beat goalkeeper Nicklas Frenderup from close range.
The result left T&T second in the group on four points behind St Kitts and Nevis who have won their opening two matches.
Source-CMC
