Trinidad and Tobago’s National Under 20 football team head coach Zoran Vranes will be monitoring the physical state of German-based striker Jamal Gay over the next twenty four hours leading up to Saturday’s CONCACAF Under 20 World Qualifying match against Canada after the player complained of muscle tightness following his first training session at the Marvin Lee Stadium on Wednesday.
He remains optimistic of playing for T&T in the upcoming series which will see the top two teams from the four-nation group advance to the 2009 FIFA Under 20 World Championship in Egypt.
“There’s no way I would travel this long way and not play for the national team. There was a bit of discomfort but I expect I can fight it off and help the team,” Gay told TTFF Media.
Looking at T&T’s chances, his hopes were all positive.
“I’m confident. We have been working hard for over a year and the desire to succeed is there. A lot of the guys have tasted the success of qualifying for the Under 17 World Cup so they know what it feels like and they want to go on to another World Cup now.
“Costa Rica and Mexico might be the favourites and Canada is also a giant in youth football but I believe that we should also consider our chances just as good. Once we work hard and play to our plan then I think we can get through to the World Cup.”
Head coach Zoran Vranes, who was accompanied by Russell Latapy on the training pitch on Wednesday, is maintaining a cautious approach.
“Nobody can predict what the outcome will be but I feel the same way about this team that I felt last year when I said that they can be better than the Olympic team which I coached some years ago which included Arnold Dwarika and Marvin Andrews. I believe this Under 20 team has a lot of talented players to take us to the next level.”
About Latapy’s presence at the training session, he added: “He is a personal friend and of course it is also very good for him to be here with us. Last month I questioned whether his role could see him helping youth football as well and here he was today giving his support. That kind of cooperation is always a plus and means a lot to the players.”
Latapy himself urged the players to give their all for the Red,White and Black.
“I’ve always been someone who has been able to go on and achieve things in the game because I decided I was never going to be a quitter and that is the same advice I would want to give you boys as you go into the competition. Don’t expect anything to come easy but if you work hard at it then there’s always going to be some form of success coming your way,” Latapy said.
The T&T team trained on Thursday evening at the Marvin Lee Stadium and will have another session on Friday at the same venue before Saturday’s match which kicks off at 6pm. Costa Rica faces Mexico from 4pm in the earlier encounter.
The tournament will open Friday in Bacolet, Tobago from 5pm with El Salvador Honduras, which completed the field Monday by beating St. Vincent & the Grenadines in a playoff 3-1. The opening Group A doubleheader will conclude with the U.S. playing Jamaica at 7pm. facing
The United States, which includes two players eligible of representing T&T in Aaron Maund and Shannon Williams has qualified a CONCACAF-best 11 times for the U-20 World Cup, but never won a regional title. That may largely be due to the fact the USA’s has emerged as a regional power in the past two decades, and since 1996 CONCACAF has not crowned a champion but rather run the finals of the competition as a two group affair, with two from each group advancing to the World Cup. This year, CONCACAF has re-established the tournament as a championship, a move welcomed by U.S. coach Thomas Rongen.
“It’s a great switch to go back,” Rongen said. “If you win it, you can say we are the best in CONCACAF. It’s an extra incentive to be the best.
“I would be lying if I said that it isn’t the first priority, that all four teams going to the semis are going to World Cup. You’ve accomplished what came here to do, but then, it’s: “Lets win this thing.”
The American U-20 team, much like its regular senior counterpart, is evenly split between domestic- and foreign-based players. Anthony Wallace of FC Dallas and captain Bryan Arguez of Hertha Berlin will anchor a midfield with FC Dallas forward Peri Marosevic expected to carry most of the scoring burden.
Jamaica may come in with the most momentum, having beaten Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada in the weeks leading up to the tournament. Dever Orgill of Vancouver Whitecaps and Alonza Adlam had six goals each in Jamaica’s eight-game unbeaten run to the Caribbean title, and will arrive with a largely amateur team sprinkled with a few professionals. Midfielder Evan Taylor already has been given exposure to the senior Reggae Boyz.
Canada has had quite the opposite preparation, losing three of four games with only one draw and one goal. The Canadians arrive with a distinctive European influence, having 13 players on their preliminary roster plying their trade across the Atlantic. It has defender Nana Attakora-Gyan of Toronto returning from the 2007 U-20 World Cup team and Marcus Haber of the Vancouver Whitecaps that will likely be the target up front.
Like its senior team counterpart, Costa Rica comes in as the authority in the Central American region. The Ticos won their three-team qualifying group, easily dispatching Nicaragua and scoring twice in the first half before outlasting Honduras 2-1 to clinch a place in the CONCACAF championship.
While coaches always concentrate on winning their first game, Ronald Gonzalez will have to do without Christian Gamboa and Carlos Hernandez for Costa Rica’s opener against Mexico due to suspension.