Curacao earned their first win of the group stage in impressive fashion with a 5-3 triumph over Trinidad and Tobago at the Ergilio Hato Stadium in Willemstad, Curacao on Tuesday night.
It was an ideal start for Curacao, who took a 1-0 lead in the 7’ when a long ball was played up to Rangelo Janga and the experienced striker finished with aplomb past Trinidad and Tobago GK Denzil Smith.
Curacao were hungry for more and they doubled the lead to 2-0 in the 12’ when Kenji Gorre found Godfried Roemeratoe, who fired into net past Smith.
The Curacao attack was unyielding and a hard run from Gorre in the 54’ ended in a foul in the Trinidad and Tobago area and a penalty kick. Gorre stepped up and easily converted from the spot, extending the Curacao advantage to 3-0.
Trinidad and Tobago were finally able to pull back a goal in the 68’ as Ryan Telfer found Reon Moore with a cross from the right wing and Moore finished to make it 3-1.
It was Trinidad and Tobago with the momentum now and suddenly it was 3-2 in the 74’ when a rebound fell for Kristian Lee-Him to latch onto and fire into goal.
Curacao had a golden opportunity to restore a two-goal advantage from the penalty spot in the 75’ after a Trinidad and Tobago handball, only to see Smith save Brandley Kuwas’ penalty. But three minutes later it was 4-2 via the penalty spot after a foul in the area. This time Juninho Bacuna stroked it into net for Curacao.
Curacao’s three-goal lead was then restored in the 81’ when Roshon Van Eijma’s header hit the crossbar, but Janga was there to head in the rebound to make it 5-2.
Their chances at winning the group were fading away, but Trinidad and Tobago wanted to make sure they held onto the second spot, and they made it a 5-3 final scoreline in the 86’ when a free kick was played in front of the Curacao goal and Kareem Moses poked home the loose ball.