U17s warm up with 2-0 win over Panama club team.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF). Trinidad and Tobago’s National Under 17 team warmed up for the final round of qualification for the FIFA Under 17 World Championship with a 2-0 victory over Panamanian club side Tauro FC on Saturday.
The local team, under head coach Anton Corneal, spent three days in Panama City en route to Mexico where they will contest the final round starting on Wednesday against the Mexicans.
The goalscorers for T&T were forwards Jerrel Britto and Johan Peltier.
“Overall it was a pretty decent exercise for us,” Corneal told TTFF Media as the team settled in Tijuana on Monday.
“Now we are in Mexico and looking to get the boys settled in as quickly as possible. They have done well so far. Of course this is a very big outing for them and so far they have responded in the right manner. Being away from home, especially in a place like Mexico for a tournament and not just a training camp or a friendly, is always expected to be a challenge especially for a group of Under 17 players. But it’s going to be almost the same for the other teams except the hosts,” Corneal added.
Team captain Britto, who had another recent stint with English club Portsmouth, sounded confident ahead of T&T’s opening clash, despite being well aware that the hosts will be a tough hurdle to overcome.
“I believe our chances are good. We have worked really hard to get ready for this tournament and even though it might look really difficult with the teams in our group, we have played against teams like Brazil and other good clubs in Colombia. That has done a lot to help us get ready for this tournament,” Britto said.
“I think once we settle down well and be composed then we have a great chance of coming out successful. The team spirit is great but we just need to ensure we are not too nervous going into the first match. Our approach to this tournament has been good because we have been training for a long time trying to get ourselves ready.”
T&T face off with Mexico at the 33,000-capacity Estadio Caliente on Wednesday and they then take on Costa Rica on April 24 before meeting Guatemala two days later
The top two teams from each group will advance to the World Championship in Nigeria from October 24 to November 15, 2009. The other group being contested also in Mexico includes USA, Honduras, Canada and Cuba.
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View team getting ready for Mexico
