As many would have expected or predicted, Trinidad and Tobago's men's national football team went under in their friendly away to Bolivia today, succumbing to a 3-0 defeat at the Ramon Tahuichi Aguilera Stadium in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

The Bolivians opened the scoring in the 23rd minute through their captain, Luis Haquin, before their striker Juan Godoy made it 2-0 in the 38th minute, and Fernando Nava wrapped things up with the simplest of finishes in the 51st minute.

The visitors knew the clash wasn't going to be an easy one, and coach Derek King acknowledged as much by setting up with a big five in front of goalkeeper Jabari Brice, who was arguably TT's best player on the day. From as early as the second minute, Brice was called to make a save after defender Jesse Williams was fortunate enough to get away with a possible handball infringement in the area.

In the ninth minute, Williams himself made a goal-saving tackle to stop Nava in his tracks, with Brice pulling off a monster save down to his right to stop a close-range stab from Haquin in the 19th minute.

With TT having little or no way to come out of their half for lengthy periods, the pressure finally told when Haquin headed past Brice from point-blank range to break the deadlock, with defender Alvin Jones making a desperate, futile attempt to clear the ball off the goal line.

Despite their defensive make-up, the visitors didn't close down the space in the final third, which allowed Bolivia to shoot at will from distance, while the hosts also peppered the opposing penalty area with a flurry of crosses.

In the 38th minute, the visitors were caught napping when a quickly-worked free kick from Carlos Meglar was seamlessly rolled into the net by Godoy, who could have easily had a hat-trick on the day. Godoy later had a goal ruled out as he handled the ball before stroking it in the net in the 56th minute.

TT offered precious little by way of an attacking threat, but did spring to life in a well-worked counter-attack in the 42nd minute. After being played through on goal, Halifax Wanderers forward Ryan Telfer was just thwarted by a tackle as he worked the ball back on his right foot. From the ensuing corner, wing back Ross Russell Jr saw a firm right-footed hit deflecting just wide.

Interim coach Derek King would have been hoping for TT to carry over some of that late first-half momentum into the second half. However, the visitors were on the back foot shortly after the resumption as they conceded the third goal of the game in the 51st minute. What could only be described as a breakdown in communication saw the 32-year-old Godoy in acres of space down the right. As Godoy played the ball across the face of goal, substitute Adam "Toka" Pierre stuck a leg out in vain trying to intercept, but an unmarked Nava had the easiest of tasks to finish at the back post.

Having entered the game in first-half stoppage-time for the injured Jones, the 18-year-old Pierre put in a solid shift at the back to atone for the earlier mishap.

At the other end, TT didn't possess the ball enough to pose any sustained threat to the hosts, with their best second-half chance arguably coming when flanker Jaheim Faustin nearly picked the pocket of substitute goalkeeper Geronimo Govea in the 78th minute.

TT will now shift their attention to the Fifa Series matches against Venezuela and Gabon on March 27 and 30, respectively.