AS FAR as assistant coach of the national Under-20 football team, Brian Williams, is concerned, the 18-member squad is confident of securing one of two spots available for the 2005 World Youth Championship in the Netherlands.
The local lads had mixed results in their final pair of warm-up matches at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella last week defeating Couva United 4-1 on Tuesday before they lost 2-1 to the national senior team on Thursday. Williams, who serves as deputy to fellow Strike Squad teammate Anton Corneal, revealed: After our final match, we thought the team did pretty well. Its only to build on that now. I think defensively, they were very much firm and we need to create a little more goalscoring opportunities, added Williams, but gradually, they could work on that and players could even improvise.
Williams continued: At this point in time, were very optimistic about going forward and doing well (in the qualifiers). Technical Director of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) Lincoln Tiger Phillips has spent a week in California and Williams noted that the squad, while utilising Phillips reports on the three opponents, are hoping for a couple of warm-up matches before the USA fixture.