Trinidad & Tobago vs Egypt Egyptian Army (Borg El Arab) Stadium, Alexandria Thursday, 24 September 2009 20:00 local, 13:00 T&T/Eastern Greetings. As usual, any updates/scores, shout-outs, reports, predictions, views, etc, on the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup game vs Egypt (September 24th, 20:00 local, 13:00 T&T/Eastern time) in the Egyptian Army Stadium in Alexandria will be posted here, this way, we can help maintain the message board and not make it look too scrappy with un-necessary or related headlines and postings on game day.
Possible Live Internet Links.ESPN 360I95.5fm105.1FMatdhe.netTV Viewing.TV 6Chat.chat.socawarriors.netAlexandria.Alexandria is the second-largest city in Egypt. Known far and wide as ‘The Pearl of the Mediterranean', it has an atmosphere that is decidedly more Mediterranean than Middle Eastern. Its ambience and cultural heritage distance it from the rest of the country, although it is actually only 225km from the capital.
Borg El Arab Stadium.Borg El Arab Stadium is a brand new stadium commissioned in 2006 in the Mediterranean Sea resort of Borg el Arab; 50 km west of Alexandria, Egypt. It is the second largest stadium in Egypt, Africa and The Middle Eastcomes after Cairo Stadium with a capacity of 80,000 and is an all-seater. It is located on the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway 10 km from Borg El Arab Airport and 15 km from Alexandria's city centre. A running track runs around the pitch, and the ground has four large floodlights. Only one stand is covered by a roof.
Trinidad & TobagoT&T put in a promising performance as hosts of the 2009 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, ensuring a fourth-place finish to book their place in Egypt. The 2009 youth finals will the dual-island nation's second appearance at a U-20 global showpiece and judging by the steady improvements in their football, the opposition will do well not to underestimate the red-clad islanders.
QualifyingTrinidad hosted the 2009 CONCACAF championship in Macoya and Bacolet over nine days in March. They began their campaign amid raucous local support with a 1-0 win over Canada and then followed it up with a 0-0 draw against eventual champions Costa Rica. Their third group game was a bit of anti-climax, as they had assured progress to the semis and Egypt beforehand. However, they still managed to come from two goals down to draw Mexico 2-2. In their last-four meeting with the much-fancied United States, the tournament hosts ground out a goalless draw before being edged in a penalty shoot-out. They had to endure further heartbreak in the third-place game when a late Honduras goal forced the home boys to settle for fourth.
CoachZoran Vranes brings a wealth of coaching experience to this young Trinidadian outfit. The Serbian former FK Partizan player managed the Trinidad and Tobago senior national team briefly in 2003 before helping to transform the fortunes of St Vincent and the Grenadines from minnows in the Caribbean to genuine contenders.
Star PlayersTrinidad has among their ranks a raft of talented players, all good with the ball and possessing the prototypical Caribbean traits of explosive speed and power. Chief among them is Sean de Silva, who scored the crucial goal in Trinidad's opening win over Canada. Jet-heeled striker Qian Grosvenor, Daniel Joseph and namesake Marcus Joseph comprise a midfield that may well be able to make a mark in the Egyptian finals.
RecordTrinidad have only ever qualified for one FIFA U-20 World Cup, at Portugal 1991, where they were sent packing in the first round without managing to score a single goal.
What they said..."It was very good to see that Trinidad and Tobago can play well under mental pressure and not just physical pressure. I am very proud of the guys...And I would like to thank all of Trinidad and Tobago who supported us," Trinidad and Tobago coach Zoran Vranes, after his side qualified for Egypt 2009.
T&T 22-Man SquadGoalkeepers - X 321.Glenroy Samuel (United Petrotrin/TRI), 1.Jesse Fullerton (Nova University/USA), 22.Andre Marchan (Joe Pubic/TRI).
Defenders - X 819.Daniel Cyrus (Joe Public/TRI), 12.Robert Primus (San Juan Jabloteh/TRI), 4.Sheldon Bateau (San Juan Jabloteh/TRI), 3.Curtis Gonzales (Ma Pau SC/TRI), 15.Uriah Bentick (Liberty University/USA), 5.Akeem Adams (United Petrotrin/TRI), 2.Aubrey David (W Connection/TRI), Mikeil Williams (Ma Pau SC/TRI).
Midfielders - X 76.Leston Paul (capt) (University of South Flordia/USA), 8.Sean De Silva (Joe Public/TRI), 14.Jean-Luc Rochford (Joe Public/TRI), 7.Kevin Molino (Ma Pau SC/TRI), 16.Marcus Joseph (Joe Public/TRI), Khaleem Hyland (Zulte Waregem/BEL), Jake Thomson (Southampton/ENG).
Forwards - X 4Jamal Gay (Rot Weiss Oberhausen/GER), 18.Marvin Manswell (Joe Public/TRI), 10.Quan Grosvenor (University of Connecticut/USA), 9.Juma Jamal Clarence (United Petrotrin/TRI).
EgyptEgypt have a convincing record at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, standing in 22nd position in the competition's all time ranking out of 80 teams who have ever made it to the finals. The North Africans have made five appearances in the competition, starting with Australia in 1981 when Taher Abuzied finished as one of the top scorers of the tournament with four goals in just three matches. But their most impressive result was achieved 20 years later when they won the bronze medal in Argentina in 2001. The tournament which they host in September and October will provide the young Pharaohs with a chance to compete for the title for the first time in front of their own fans.
QualifyingAlthough Egypt qualified automatically for the finals as hosts of the competition, the Egyptian FA insisted that their team should participate in the African Youth Championship that was held this year in Rwanda. They saw it as the perfect opportunity to test their youth side's ability to compete in such competitive circumstances. They started off on the wrong foot by losing to Nigeria 2-0, but soon recovered to beat Côte d'Ivoire and South Africa respectively in their group. However, this was not enough to send them through to the final four, losing out on a place in the semi-finals on goal difference to South Africa. The result was disappointing for the Egyptians and has raised doubts over the young side's ability to fulfil their nation's hopes of winning a medal later this year in the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
CoachMiroslav Soukup started his career in coaching at Czech side Tatran Prachatice, with whom he won a third-division title in 2002/03, and his success there led to two seasons as assistant coach for top-flight Czech outfit 1.FC Brno. Soukup guided his country, the Czech Republic, to the final of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 but they lost the title to Argentina. He was scouted by the Egyptian officials at that time who were hunting for a European professional manager who could help their team to reach the final of the same competition two years later. After a few months in charge, he decided to let go of his previous local assistant Rabie Yassin who was credited for formatting the current team and replaced him with former Werder Bremen defender Hany Ramzy.
Star PlayersGoalkeeper Abugabal gave an impressive performance in Rwanda and proved to be the right man to succeed veteran keeper, Essam El Hadary in the Pharaohs' squad. However, arguably the side's brightest prospect is 19 year-old Talaat Mohamed, who has shown immense promise with his stellar performances.
RecordIn the 21 games played in the competition they have won seven, drawn four and lost ten. Interestingly, they have scored 25 goals and conceded 31. Egypt's best finish in the competition came at Argentina 2001, when they finished third. Notable members of that side included Mohamed Shawky who currently plays for Middlesbrough in England, former Spurs midfielder Hossam Ghaly and Ahmed Aboumessalem who is currently based in France with League 2 side Ajaccio.
What they said"We learned a lot of lessons in Rwanda and hope we can fix our mistakes before the FIFA U-20 World Cup. With the tournament taking place in September and October, we hope we would have enough time to bring new players to the side and give them the experience they lack especially that none of them have broken into the senior teams of their clubs." Miroslav Soukup, Egypt coach.
SquadNr. Name DOB Pos Clubs Height
1 Aly LOTFI 14/10/1989 GK Enppi (EGY) 187
2 Salah SOLIMAN 20/01/1990 DF Ghazl Al Mehalla (EGY) 185
3 Hesham MOHAMED 03/01/1990 MF Al Ahly (EGY) 170
4 Mostafa GALAL 22/07/1989 MF Enppi (EGY) 180
5 Moaz EL HENAWY 29/01/1990 DF Al Ahly (EGY) 180
6 Ahmed HEGAZY 25/01/1991 DF Ismaily (EGY) 193
7 Aly MOHAMED 01/01/1989 DF Enppi (EGY) 166
8 Shehab AHMED 22/08/1990 MF Al Ahly (EGY) 169
9 Mohamed TALAAT 14/05/1989 FW Al Ahly (EGY) 173
10 Ahmed SHOUKRI 21/07/1989 MF Al Ahly (EGY) 170
11 AFROTO 17/03/1989 FW Al Ahly (EGY) 163
12 Islam RAMADAN 01/11/1990 DF Haras El Hedood (EGY) 178
13 Ayman ASHRAF 09/04/1991 DF Al Ahly (EGY) 175
14 Hosam HASSAN 30/04/1989 MF Enppi (EGY) 172
15 Saadeldin SAAD 01/04/1989 DF Al Ahly (EGY) 182
16 Mohamed BASSAM 25/12/1990 GK Al Gaish (EGY) 191
17 Mahmoud TOBA 01/10/1989 MF Al Ahly (EGY) 179
18 Ahmed MAGDY 09/12/1989 MF Ghazl Al Mehalla (EGY) 169
19 BOGY 28/01/1989 FW Zamalek (EGY) 182
20 Hussam ARAFAT 18/01/1990 MF Zamalek (EGY) 181
21 Mohamed ABOUGABAL 29/01/1989 GK Enppi (EGY) 191