US-based forward Isaiah Noreiga is likely to be a key member of the Trinidad and Tobago National Under 17 team in their final Concacaf qualifiers in Jamaica next month.
Noreiga, who is attached to American Major League Soccer (MLS) club Houston Dynamo, has been in training with the squad under head coach Shawn Cooper in recent weeks and is pressing for a spot ahead of Concacaf final round clashes with Jamaica (Feb 15) and Guatemala (Feb 17) in Montego Bay.
Noreiga’s profile is an impressive one and he has been described as one the better young prospects at the Houston club. He plays for both the Dynamo Under 19,18 and Under 16 teams and led the latter to the Dallas Cup title last year with four goals. One of his goals came in Dynamo’s 2-1 win over Santa Clara in the final of the 2010 Dr Pepper Dallas Cup
He was also the youngest player at age 15 in the Dynamo Under 19 team at the 2009 Dallas Cup. He also played the final 37 minutes for Dynamo in a training match against the United States Under 17 team and was part of the Dynamo U-16 squad that traveled to El Salvador last July-August to play two games against the El Salvador national team.
“He’s looked good with the rest of players so far in training and I think he can be a valuable asset to the team. He’s not played any international games for us because he was injured during the Caribbean qualifiers but he’s very enthusiastic and has fitted in well with the rest of the team so far,
We haven’t named the final squad as yet but we’ll be monitoring his progress along with the other players for the next few weeks,” said Cooper. T&T U17s play T&TEC in a training game at 4pm at the Ato Boldon Stadium today.