Venezuela whips T&T 4-1 in FIFA Series opener

2026-03-27 - 14:14

NIGEL SIMON Senior Multimedia Reporter nigel.simon@guardian.co.tt T&T Soca Warriors suffered a 4-1 loss against neighbours Venezuela in their FIFA Series opener at Pakhtakor Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan this morning. For the 50th world ranked Venezuelans debutant striker Delvin Alfonzo and veteran striker Solomon Rondon both scored twice to cancel out a go-ahead item for T&T by Vietnam-based striker Reon Moore in a clash of two nations who failed to qualify for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA/Canada/Mexico from their respective Concacaf and South American qualifiers. The outcome for the 97th world ranked Soca Warriors could have been much different against the South Americans had T&T captain, Levi Garcia of Russian club Spartak Moscow converted from the penalty-spot inside the first minute. The 45-year-old T&T interim coach Derek King and his squad was presented with a dream start when Oman-based midfielder Duane Muckette was bundled over by goalkeeper Cristopher Varela within 45 seconds of the start. However, from the resulting spot-kick, Varela redeemed himself when he dived to his left and parried a left footed strike from Garcia onto