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He is one of the four members of the National Futsal team that plays professional 11v11 football but he is beaming with pride on the opportunity to represent the country in an international tournament.

Jameel Neptune of Morvant Caledonia United is currently with the national Futsal team in Costa Rica preparing for the upcoming CONCACAF qualifying playoffs with Honduras. A win on aggregate will send T&T through to the final round of qualification next month in San Jose.

Neptune got the chance to face up against CONCACAF defending Futsal champions Costa Rica in Heredia on Wednesday night as T&T lost 6-0. But Neptune was impressed with the quality of the football.

 “It was a great learning experience, to see how they control the ball and how the move it,” he said.

“I think Futsal provides a great opportunity for players of all types. I play professionally for Caledonia but Futsal allows me to develop my skill level and also the pace at which the game is played in a small sided setting which we can also use on the big field. I’m very excited about being able to play this version,“ added Neptune who was part of the Caledonia side that captured the Lucozade Shield title last week in their win over DirecTV W Connection in the final at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Looking ahead to the matches with Honduras on May 4 and 5, Neptune said T&T would be ready to pose a challenge.

“We know it will be two tough matches but we are working hard to correct our flaws and to improve our game. We play Costa Rica again on Friday (today) and we’ll be looking to better our performance from the 6-0 loss. I think we’ll be ready for Honduras and then also be ready to give it our best in the Final tournament.”

The 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup will be played in Colombia in September and four countries from CONCACAF will enter the Finals.