Sidebar

29
Fri, Mar
28 New Articles

Typography

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association has secured two training matches for this country’s National Futsal Team against Costa Rica to be played in San Jose on April 27th and 29th.

The games will be the final part of preparations for the T&T team prior to its CONCACAF qualifying playoff matches with Honduras at the BN Arena in San Jose on May 4th and May 6th. The winner of that two-game playoff will progress to the CONCACAF Finals at the same venue where eight countries will battle it out for four qualifying spots for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia.

The T&T team finished third in the Caribbean Championship in January which resulted in its progress to the playoffs.

Team head coach Clayton Morris said the two friendlies with Costa Rica would be timely for his team as they look ahead to the matches with Honduras.

“Firstly I want to thank the TTFA for arranging these two games and the training camp,” Morris told TTFA Media.

“This is what I have been asking for since we returned from Cuba in January. I just wished it could have been a bit earlier so that some of our new players would have had the experience and exposure before the matches with Honduras.

“Be as it may, we truly welcome this opportunity and look forward to this camp as the spring board to getting us past Honduras which sets up the final qualifying matches versus Mexico, Panama and Guatemala.

“This latest development has motivated the players so much that at last night’s (Wednesday) training session we had one of the most intense sessions since we resumed training in February. Once again we would like to thank the TTFA and look forward for its continued support as we keep our focus on the prize which is qualifying for the Futsal World Cup in Colombia,” Morris said.

TTFA President David John-Williams added: “We have the qualifiers coming up in May and we have been able to secure two friendly games in Costa Rica. The General Secretary is working on getting the team to Costa Rica. We are happy to know that Costa Rica is going to help us in terms of sharing the hotels costs, ground transportation and meals for those internationals. I think the preparations for the Futsal team before their playoff games are well in hand and we hope that they will qualify.”

Some of the players currently in the T&T Futsal training squad include Jerwyn Balthazar, goalkeeper Kevin Graham, ex-T&T forward Conrad Smith, Jameel Neptune, Bevon Bass, Cyrano Glen, Kareem Perry, Noel Williams and Kerry Joseph.

Once T&T qualifies for the final round, they will open their campaign against Mexico on May 8th before facing Panama on May 9th and Guatemala a day later. The other group includes Cuba, Curacao, Costa Rica and the winner between the USA/Canada two-game playoff. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals and gain automatic entry to the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup.

Video Trinidad & Tobago Futsal Team interview