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THE CONFIDENCE level in the Trinidad and Tobago Under-20 football squad is rising as they prepare to face the challenge of the United States, Costa Rica and Panama in Group “A” of the CONCACAF Qualifying Final Round campaign. The qualifiers would be staged at the Home Depot Centre, Carson, California from tomorrow  until Sunday.
Hard-nosed defender Karlon Murray noted: “Right now, we’re pretty confident. The team is looking great right about now.” “I think that if we play the way that we played (for the last) couple of matches, I think that we have a really good chance,” added the CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh full-back.

 Murray, who is called ‘Babylon’ by his teammates, also stated: “The training has been difficult, everybody stepped up more, even those that were left out (of the final 18-member squad). “It was hard, but we had to make that choice because it’s three hard games (in California),” he added. Centre-back Makan Hislop was also quick to highlight the team’s mood ahead of the qualifiers. “I think basically what’s happening with the team is that a new kind of confidence is getting into the players because after all the practice matches that we’ve been playing, we’re playing really well,” he said. The University of South Carolina student continued: “After the last match against the senior team (on Thursday at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium), where we held them to a 1-1 draw until almost the last minute, I think the guys are feeling a lot more confident within themselves.”

Contrary to media reports, Hislop admitted that he is not a nephew but, in fact, a distant relative of English-born TT goalkeeper Shaka Hislop. But the lanky defender, the lone member of the 18 to play in a World Championship (the 2001 Under-17 competition in TT), stated that the winter atmosphere would not be a deterrent for the team. “I don’t think the American conditions, weather-like, would seriously alter the way we play our game,” he noted. “Basically, we play hard all the time.” One of the newer members of the team is exciting Mucurapo Senior Comprehensive midfielder Atullah Guerra.

Guerra caught the eye of team coach Anton Corneal during the 2004 Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) and was eventually drafted into the training squad. “It was hard work and hard work brings success,” admitted Guerra “and, (because) Anton Corneal, he really liked me (as a player) and he’s a very good coach so I stepped up and that’s why I deserve to be on this 18.” Commenting on his style of play, he said: “When I pick up the ball, I could interchange the sides, I could switch it, I could even create a pass to score a goal, so it’s interesting.”

Another recent inclusion into the team is former St Anthony’s defender Marcelle Francois, who recovered from injury to cement a place in the squad. “It’s great,” is how he described his selection. “It’s not what I expected but I prayed for it and I’m going to do my best and hopefully this could be my future here.” Francois is a member of Jabloteh’s Under-20 outfit and would be playing in the tournament on the right flank. “I’m naturally a defender,” he confessed, “but what I have to work on is my crosses.” While pleased with his overall game, Francois noted that he would also be paying closer attention to “the recovery runs, running up and down constantly (throughout) the whole match.”