Western Bureau:

Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) qualified for the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship yesterday afternoon when a stoppage-time goal by Adan Noel gave them a 1-0 win against Guatemala in their Group C game at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay.

By virtue of T&T's win, host nation Jamaica, the third team in the three-team group, only need to avoid defeat in their game against Guatemala tomorrow to join T&T in the quarter-finals. However, they will probably want to win handsomely and top the group to avoid meeting Canada, who looks all set to top Group C.

"Qualifying for the quarter-finals means a lot to us ... the team is young and inexperienced and came here to prove a point to the public back home," said T&T's coach Shawn Cooper.

early exchanges

In what was a keenly contested game in parts, Guatemala had the better of the early exchanges but solid defending by T&T kept most of the action away from their goalkeeper.

Guatemala started the second half all out in attack and just missed taking the lead in the 46th minute when Bryan Lemus fired wide from six yards.

After T&T created and wasted a chance in the 60th minute when Garvin Samaroo got into the box, hesitated and lost possession, Guatemala wasted a similar opportunity two minutes later when Luiz Perez hesitated and was dispossessed before the goal.

With time running out in the game and a draw looking the likely result, T&T got a free kick on the edge of the Guatemala penalty area moments into stoppage time. The initial kick by Noel was blocked by the wall but he fired in the rebound, making the final score 1-0.

"This is sweet revenge for us because the last time we met Guatemala in the 2009 tournament, they embarrassed us 3-0," said coach Cooper. "This is sweet revenge for what happened then."