Another Disappointing Performance By Keon Daniel Can't Sink T&T As They Down Barbados 4-0

Keon Daniel's tale of unfortunate events continued last night, as the Philadelphia Union player was substituted off in the 46th minute of Trinidad and Tobago's 4-0 win over Barbados. 

The 25-year-old Daniel was unable to regain the form that he had found with the Union and carried over to the Trinidadian national team, before failing to impress in his start in Trinidad's 2-1 loss to Bermuda on October 7. Daniel was criticized by Trinidadian press and Soca Warriors supporters for his lackadaisical pass that almost immediately led to Bermuda's first goal in the 52nd minute. The midfielder was removed from the game in the 67th minute after not making the right kind of mark on the game in the loss.

Another poor performance led to another short appearance by Daniel, despite Trinidad beating Barbados 4-0. In the 46th minute, Hayden Tinto was brought on for Daniel and Trinidad ended up scoring three more goals - two by Lester Peltier, to complete his hat trick, and one by Hughton Hector in the 90th minute.

Soca Warriors fans discussed Daniel's problems on one of the team's largest fan forums, with multiple match reports and player ratings giving him below average ratings. One of the more respected members of the forum had the following to say about Daniel's display against Barbados:

The left side was totally ineffective both in attack as well as defence. Keon Daniel looked like the Skilla of old...slow, nashy, uninterested, ball watching and he just looked scared or something. Not a tackle..only covering and pointing, when the ball was there to be won if he only chook a foot. Daniel -4 Poor today, something is wrong.

Other members wrote concurring opinions of Daniel's display, some of them mentioning an injury or something being wrong with the midfielder:

Hector and Tinto came on for Jorsling and Daniel.. both exiting players were poor, Jorsling was non existent and Daniel, though one of our better technical players lacks the drive and energy to really impact the team. Daniel- 5/10- Out of it, lack of desire, poor service and a small injury.. not your night Skilla but we know what you have when you decide to use it.. Get Hungry

Daniel - put in a good shift defensively, but that seems to be lost because he didn't produce anything going forward. He seemed to be the first man to remember that they were supposed to be pressuring Barbados high and forced a few turnovers. In a game where we weren't under pressure he could have stepped up and shown a bit more on the attacking end.

Daniel hasn't played for the Union since leaving for international duty at the end of August and hasn't been allowed back into the United States since then as well. A visa problem has all but ruled Daniel out of the rest of the 2011 MLS season, and a possible contraction of Dengue Fever has further complicated Daniel's situation.