Confident T&T eye quarter-finals
Published: Thursday | February 17, 2011 0 Comments
Jamaica's King Kaya Beckford (right) dribbles by Trinidad & Tobago's Neil Benjamin in Tuesday's CONCACAF Under-17 fixture at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in Catherine Hall, St James. The game ended 2-2. -
Adrian Frater, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
Buoyed by their 2-2 draw against Jamaica, which coach Shawn Cooper has described as "a victory for us", Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) will be gunning to become the first Group C qualifier in the 2011 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship when they oppose Guatemala at Jarrett Park, starting at three o'clock this afternoon.
Prior to the T&T showdown with Guatemala, first-round losers Barbados face a do-or-die situation when they battle the highly fancied Canada, who will be bowing into contention, in a crucial Group D game. That game is slated for 12:30 p.m.
T&T are full of confidence and Cooper is expecting them to take maximum points from the game, noting that the confidence level in the camp is very high.
If striker Shackiel Henry, who got both goals against Jamaica, along with Jomal Williams and Neil Benjamin can reproduce their first-game form, Guatemala should have a tough task containing the young Soca Warriors.
Eyeing World Cup
Guatemala, fifth-place finishers in the 2009 tournament, could waltz into the quarter-finals without having to wait for the game against Jamaica, as victory would assure them of a top-two finish in the group.
"Our first objective is to get a top-four finish in this tournament, which will guarantee us a place in the Under-17 World Cup," said Guatemala's coach, Gary Stempel. "We intend to start with a win against Trinidad and Tobago."
To accomplish their task, Guatemala will be looking to top players Franklin Garcia, Jonathan Hernandez, Santos Monzon and goalkeeper Jhony Navarro, who are all highly rated by the coaching staff.
Barbados, which showed some amount of fight before sliding to a 2-1 loss to Honduras on Tuesday, are not yet ready to go home, and according to their coach, Kenville Layne, they will be going all out to upstage Canada.
"We are not yet ready to go home, it is not over for us yet," said Layne. "It will not be easy, but we believe if we play well, we will be able to get a positive result against Canada."
If coach Layne's dream is to become a reality, top players Jabarry Chandler, Jomo Harris, Romario Griffiths, skipper Amal Mayers and Zari Prescod will all have to come good.
On the other hand, Canada, with a strong all-round team and an experienced coach in Sean Fleming, say they are ready to deal with any challenge.
"We feel we are ready and we are definitely looking forward to our first match against Barbados," said Fleming.. "We have prepared well and we are ready for whatever challenges we will face."
Canada will be banking on Marco Lapenna, the wily Keven Aleman, Samuel Piette, the gifted Jay Chapman and Adam Polakiewicz.
