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Trinidad and Tobago's national Under-17 men's team is scheduled to face Barbados in a warm-up match on February 6 in that island as both teams continue preparations for the CONCACAF final round of qualification for the 2011 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Mexico.

The T&T team is now down to 25 players and the final 20-man squad will be named by head coach Shawn Cooper at month-end.

According to team manager Christo Gouveia, Trinidad and Tobago will travel to play Barbados but a proposed friendly with Venezuela is now off.

"The team is in its final phase of the preparations with the qualifiers coming up next month,'' Gouveia told Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) media officer Shaun Fuentes.

"We have been undergoing a lot of intensive training with strength and speed work. We came back from a trip to Colombia, which was extremely useful to our preparations, and the organisers of that tournament were impressed by our display, so much that they have offered a standing invitation to national teams of Trinidad and Tobago to be part of the event on an annual basis," he said.

The T&T team will engage in a live-in training camp in Tobago next weekend.

"We are focusing right now on our defensive approach because it's vital that we limit the number of goals conceded, as well as how we complete our transition play from defence into attack," head coach Cooper added.

"At this stage we are getting closer to the final selection and as such the players are showing everything in training, which is good for us.

Unfortunately, every player cannot make a final squad but we will try our best to ensure that the best group of players is out there representing Trinidad and Tobago and one that is capable of giving the best performance possible in the qualification bid for the next Under-17 World Cup.''

T&T face hosts Jamaica on February 15 and Guatemala two days later in their first two matches of the CONCACAF final round in Montego Bay.

In related news, the T&T men's Under-20 team is also in training for an upcoming CONCACAF final round, but did not travel to face Guyana there last weekend after the game was called off.

Head coach Zoran Vranes and assistant coach Hutson Charles will continue to oversee the team's preparation ahead of the final qualifiers in Guatemala in April.