T&T go for hat-trick in Guinness Street Football final

And when the action gets underway this evening at the Waterfront in Kingston, Jamaica, tournament debutants Aruba and Barbados will seek to claim championship glory for the first time while St Vincent (2012) and Trinidad and Tobago (2013, 2014) will be hoping to add more silverware to their collection.

Here’s a brief profile on six of the nine finalists:

Team: Soccer Giants (Aruba)

Players: Alexandre Conceicao (capt), Claudeone Cavalcante, Emerson de Sousa Leocadio, Valdo Leocadio, Albert Geerman, Felix Jose Martinez, Lindsay Moncherry

Manager-Coach: Bruno Conceicao

Qualification: Won Aruba’s national final

Team: Veterans (St Lucia)

Players: Romiel Felix (capt), Valdez Maximim, Kieron King, Germain Benti, Timothy Lubin, Jonathan Alfred, Claude James

Manager-Coach: Christopher C. Lamontagne

Qualification: Won St Lucia’s national final

Team: Slash Dash (Jamaica)

Players: Roshane Lawrence (capt), Ricardo Vassell, Andre Foster, David Morgan, Kemar Allen, Ricardo Wright, Kenardo Williams

Manager-Coach: Damion Mulgrave

Qualification: Crowned national champions of Jamaica after defeating Pall All Stars 1-0 with Vassell getting the all-important goal.

Player to watch: Ricardo Vassell

Team: Sparta Boss (Guyana)

Players: Devon Millington (capt), Sheldon Shepard, Eusi Phillips, Jerome Richardson, Gregory Richardson, Jermaine Weeks, Travis Grant

Manager-Coach: Wayne Griffith

Qualification: Convincing winner of their round robin matches, Sparta Boss set up a championship showdown with title hopeful North Ruimveldt. Goals by Millington and Richardson saw prevail by a 2-1 margin.

Players to watch: Devon Millington - leading goal scorer

Team: Arm Units (Barbados)

Players: Kyle Gibson (capt), Paul Alexander, Jamal Chandler, Chai Lloyd, Tramane Cobham, Decarlo Jemmott, Raheim Sargeant

Manager: Andre Lewis

Qualification: Team knows how to score as evident by their 8 – 2 (quarterfinals) and 7 – 3 (semi-finals) wins. Won the national final 2-1 on kicks from the penalty spot.

Player to watch: Chai Lloyd—leading goal scorer with 5 goals.

Team: Touches (Trinidad and Tobago)

Players: Keeron Benito (capt), Kareem Freitas, Sayid Freitas, Micah Lewis, Makesi Lewis, Kenaz Williams, Clevon Mc Fee

Manager: Keeon Benito

Qualification: Won two of three round robin fixtures, including a 2-1 penalty triumph over reigning regional champions Chelsea. In the knockout phase they defeated 2012 national champions Drifterz Answer Back 2-0 in the semi-finals before edging tournament favourites Jr Mafia 1-0 in the finale.

Players to watch: Makesi Lewis – leading goal scorer with 8 goals including championship winner; Micah Lewis – excellent passer-playmaker.

Missing: St Vincent, St Kitts, Dominica

Prize structure:

1st – US$6,000;

2nd – US$3,000;

3rd – US$2,500;

4th – US$1,000.