Four nations tournament in Saudi Arabia in September

[Flex]

Warriors get ready for OSN Cup.
T&T Guardian Reports.

T&T’s head coach Stephen Hart will announce his squad in two weeks that will travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to take part in the inaugural four-nation OSN Cup.

The tournament is being organised by the Asia’s leading pay-TV network, OSN and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF).

Kick starting on September 5, the tournament will see national football teams from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, New Zealand and T&T vie for the coveted trophy.

David Butorac, CEO of OSN, said: “Football is the most popular sport in Saudi Arabia and across the Arab world. As a premium provider of world-class sports entertainment, we are now taking live sporting action to the next level. The OSN Cup is a tribute to our viewers and football fans across the region.

“The OSN Cup also supports the current focus of the Saudi Arabian authorities to promote football, a game in which the Kingdom has proved its excellence. By bringing together national and international talent, we promise some of the most exciting football action as well as the opportunity for the Saudi and UAE teams to take on international teams. We are thankful to the Saudi Arabian Football Federation for their fantastic support in organising what will be an exciting tournament.”

Ahmed Eid Al-Harbi, president of the Saudi Arabia Football Federation added: “Our goal is to promote the culture of football in the Kingdom, set more platforms for our talented team to demonstrate their skills and to encourage new talent to step forward and be proud participants in Saudi Arabia’s modern football history.

OSN Cup is a significant initiative as it brings international football talent to our country.

We are looking forward to some exciting matches that will delight true football fans and we thank OSN for organising this initiative which we are confident will be a mega success.”

OSN is a pay TV network in the Middle East and North Africa that offers international television entertainment content such as movies, sporting events, professional wrestling and various TV-series both locally produced as well as international premier TV-series.

OSN currently features around 100 television channels offering viewers the latest blockbuster movies, top rated series, sports, documentaries, news, kid’s entertainment, and live talk shows.

The OSN Platform is owned and operated by Panther Media Group Limited; a company registered in DIFC and is owned by Mawarid Group and KIPCO. The operational and corporate headquarters of the company is located in Dubai Media City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. More than 25,000 spectators are expected to watch the matches live, which will be held at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“Our objective is to take the OSN Cup to the widest possible audience across the region,” added Butorac. “We have recorded robust growth in the Kingdom with total subscribers increasing by over 35 percent in 2012. As part of our growth plans, we will continue to look at diverse opportunities to engage with Saudis, bringing them the sports and entertainment experiences they love.”

TTFA president Raymond Tim Kee said that T&T’s appearance at the OSN Cup should serve as an opportunity to create further relationships with international partners.

“The invitation came to us earlier this year when it was felt that we were making strides in the region once again and particularly after our showing at the Gold Cup, there is even greater interest in T&T,” Tim Kee said.

“These international outings will provide us with opportunities to engage in discussions with potential global partners and already we have begun some dialogue in this regard. This will serve to help in some form with the different costs that we have to cover as it relates to our various national teams for international matches, competitions, training camps and staff.”

The T&T team, coming off its Gold Cup quarter-final showing, will assemble in London on September 1 before flying off to Riyadh for its opening game on September 5 against United Arab Emirates.

[trini_stallion]

New Zealand TnT final

[KND2]

This tournament is winable
but Saudi at home might be too much to ask.

UAE is not a bad team either and new Zealand is not that bad as well.

depend on how hart approach the games.

New men .... will probably lose but will help bring the youth along

Gold Cup squad , performance will be better but the age of the squad will hurt us long term.


I think we will see plenty new faces for this one.

which probably makes more sense.

[OutsideMan]

Looking forward to this tournament as it may help us move even a bit farther up on the FIFA rankings again depending on our performance. 

Also, it makes sense that New Zealand may want to play us again at home sometime in October in-case they end up in a playoff with a Concacaf team like Honduras, Panama, or JA. 

[Football supporter]

I think we will see a very similar squad to the GC. Hart would want to win this to provide a buzz around the team and build support at home. This is not a friendly tournament for Hart. After this, I imagine we will start to see gradual changes and by this time next year, we will probably see a virtually new line up.

Remember, Hart didn't have time to prepare for the GC and hasn't seen any Pro League action and very little Super League. Go with what you know. And a last hurrah for senior players who will be put out to pasture.

[rotatopoti3]

This is not a friendly tournament for Hart.

I agree FS..we need to try and win this tournament...We need to develop a winning mentality...I would not understimate this opposition....  If we are honest to ourselves...we must realize we are playing in a different climate and totally different conditions.... 

This tournament is about fitness and stamina....Saudi Arabia and UAE are comfortable with this....Maybe JLloyd could have been a good addition here seeing that he has been playing in similar conditions in Iran for the past 2 seasons....perhaps giving advice....I mean the socawarriors played in Bahrain as well so some of the older heads may have some ideas...but we need our players to step up...who knows some of them could even get ah contract tax free over there...

[soccerman]

This is not a friendly tournament for Hart.

I agree FS..we need to try and win this tournament...We need to develop a winning mentality...I would not understimate this opposition....  If we are honest to ourselves...we must realize we are playing in a different climate and totally different conditions.... 

This tournament is about fitness and stamina....Saudi Arabia and UAE are comfortable with this....Maybe JLloyd could have been a good addition here seeing that he has been playing in similar conditions in Iran for the past 2 seasons....perhaps giving advice....I mean the socawarriors played in Bahrain as well so some of the older heads may have some ideas...but we need our players to step up...who knows some of them could even get ah contract tax free over there...

 

[Socapro]

Warriors to be aired on Asia pay-TV
T&T Newsday Reports
Sunday, August 18 2013

THE TRINIDAD and Tobago football team will be seen on Asia’s top pay-per-view TV network OSN next month, when the national squad participates in the inaugural four-nation OSN Cup, on September 6 and 10.

This competition, which will feature TT, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates and hosts Saudi Arabia, has been organised by both OSN and the Saudi Arabia Football Federation (SAFF).

OSN is a pay-per-view TV network in the Middle East and North Africa that offers international television entertainment content such as movies, sporting events, professional wrestling and various TV series both locally produced as well as international premier TV series.

David Butorac, CEO of OSN, said, “football is the most popular sport in Saudi Arabia and across the Arab world. As a premium provider of world-class sports entertainment, we are now taking live sporting action to the next level. The OSN Cup is a tribute to our viewers and football fans across the region.”

Butorac continued, “the OSN Cup also supports the current focus of the Saudi Arabian authorities to promote football, a game in which the Kingdom has proved its excellence.

“By bringing together national and international talent, we promise some of the most exciting football action as well as the opportunity for the Saudi and UAE teams to take on international teams. We are thankful to the Saudi Arabian Football Federation for their fantastic support in organising what will be an exciting tournament.”

Ahmed Eid Al-Harbi, SAFF president, noted, “our goal is to promote the culture of football in the Kingdom, set more platforms for our talented team to demonstrate their skills and to encourage new talent to step forward and be proud participantsa in Saudi Arabia’s modern football history.

“OSN Cup is a significant initiative as it brings international football talent to our country. We are looking forward to some exciting matches that will delight true football fans and we thank OSN for organising this initiative which we are confident will be a mega success.”

Over 25,000 spectators are expected to attend the matches, which will be held at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“Our objective is to take the OSN Cup to the widest possible audience across the region,” added Butorac. “We have recorded robust growth in the Kingdom with total subscribers increasing by over 35 percent in 2012. As part of our growth plans, we will continue to look at diverse opportunities to engage with Saudis, bringing them the sports and entertainment experiences they love.”

In related news, Trinidad and Tobago coach Stephen Hart will announce his squad in a fortnight’s time, and the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter- finalists aare expected to assemble in London, England on September 1 before flying off to Riyadh for its opening game against United Arab Emirates.

Raymond Tim Kee, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), said the team’s appearance at the OSN Cup should serve as an opportunity to create further relationships with international partners.

“The invitation came to us earlier this year when it was felt that we were making strides in the region once again and particularly after our showing at the Gold Cup, there is even greater interest in Trinidad and Tobago,” Tim Kee said.

“These international outings will provide us with opportunities to engage in discussions with potential global partners and already we have begun some dialogue in this regard,” he added.

“This will serve to help in some form with the different costs that we have to cover as it relates to our various national teams for international matches, competitions, training camps and staff.”

[D.H.W]

Thats cute. But how will people in trini be seeing the games?

[Socapro]

Thats cute. But how will people in trini be seeing the games?

That's the oil striking question!

[Big Magician]

yes..TV please

[Socapro]

TTFA submits Saudi budget
T&T Express Reports

Their recent fallout with the Ministry of Sport has not prevented the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) from preparing for an upcoming four-nation tournament from September 5-10 in the Middle East, involving Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates (UAE), New Zealand and hosts Saudi Arabia.
 
Funding permitting, T&T are expected to take on the United Arab Emirates in their opening match on September 5, the opening day of the tournament, which is being organised by Asia’s leading pay-TV network OSN and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF).
 
The TTFA submitted a budget to the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago on July 31 as part of its overall programme, which includes activities of the senior national football team for 2014.
 
“Nothing has indicated otherwise (that the trip will not be funded),” TTFA general secretary Sheldon Phillips said.
 
“We are going about the business of preparing. We are calling up our players and getting ready.”
 
These preparations will see T&T senior team head coach Stephen Hart naming his squad next week. Hart has hinted, though, that there will be as many as eight players in the squad who were not part of the team that competed at the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup competition,   during which the “Soca Warriors” advanced to the quarter-final stage for the first time since 2000.
 
T&T jumped nine places in the latest FIFA rankings to 78th ahead of countries such as Senegal, Togo, China, Guatemala, Angola Georgia Lithuania and Northern Ireland, Togo, Estonia and Cuba.
 
“We will have about eight players in the squad that will travel to Riyadh who were not part of the Gold Cup squad,” Hart told TTFA Media on Thursday.
 
“The main objective, particularly since we would not have much preparation time for the first game against the UAE, is to observe players in international action and more importantly to have an evaluation of them and where we’re at internationally as we look ahead to later down the road for future tournaments such as the next Caribbean Cup and the qualification for Russia 2018,” Hart added.
 
Looking ahead to the tournament, which also involves New Zealand, United Arab Emirates and hosts Saudi Arabia, Hart added: “It’s good to go to an international tournament such as this in the sense that it allows us the chance to see how well we can travel and adapt quickly before a game and everything that goes with playing in such conditions.
 
“We will be up against countries who were recently in qualification for 2014, and still involved in it and it’s good for us to face challenges like what we’ll be up against.
 
“It’s good for us to play countries of different styles such as what a United Arab Emirates of New Zealand will bring with them.”
 
Meanwhile, on the player front, senior national defender Daneil Cyrus is on trial with Belgian Premier Division club Racing Genk, the club of another T&T player, midfielder Khaleem Hyland.
 
According to a TTFA release, Cyrus was recommended by T&T director of football Leo Beenhakker after a solid showing at the 2013 Concacaf Gold Cup in the US last month. “I got my visa to travel earlier this week and I’m ready for it,” Cyrus was quoted as saying. “It’s an opportunity like this I’ve wanted and I intend to give it my best shot,” Cyrus said.

[Socapro]

Hart to announce OSN Cup squad next week
T&T Guardian Reports

Trinidad and Tobago head coach Stephen Hart will name his squad next week which will travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to take part in the OSN Four Nation Cup from September 5.

Hart has hinted though that there will be as much as eight players in the squad who were not part of T&T’s recent 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup appearance during which the “Soca Warriors” advanced to the quarter final stage for the first time since 2000 and jumped nine places in the latest FIFA rankings to 78th ahead of countries such as Senegal, Togo, China, Guatemala, Angola Georgia Lithuania and Northern Ireland, Togo, Estonia and Cuba.

“We will have about eight players in the squad that will travel to Riyadh who were not part of the Gold Cup squad,” Hart told TTFA Media on Thursday.

“The main objective, particularly since we would not have much preparation time for the first game against the UAE, is to observe players in international action and more importantly to have an evaluation of them and where we’re at internationally as we look ahead to later down the road for future tournaments such as the next Caribbean Cup and the qualification for Russia 2018,” Hart added.

Looking ahead to the tournament which also involves New Zealand, United Arab Emirates and hosts Saudi Arabia, Hart added: “It’s good to go to an international tournament such as this in the sense that it allows us the chance to see how well we can travel and adapt quickly before a game and everything that goes with playing in such conditions. We will be up against countries who were recently in qualification for 2014 and still involved in it and it’s good for us to face challenges like what we’ll be up against. It’s good for us to play countries of different styles such as what a United Arab Emirates of New Zealand will bring with them.”

T&T takes on the UAE in their opening game on September 5th on the opening day of the tournament which is being organised by Asia’s leading pay-TV network, OSN and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF).

OSN is a pay TV network in the Middle East and North Africa that offers international television entertainment content such as movies, sporting events, professional wrestling and various TV-series both locally produced as well as international premier TV-series.

OSN currently features around 100 television channels offering viewers the latest blockbuster movies, top rated series, sports, documentaries, news, kid’s entertainment, and live talk shows. The OSN Platform is owned and operated by Panther Media Group Limited; a company registered in DIFC and is owned by Mawarid Group and KIPCO.The operational and corporate headquarters of the company is located in Dubai Media City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

More than 25,000 spectators are expected to watch the matches live, which will be held at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“Our objective is to take the OSN Cup to the widest possible audience across the region,” stated OSN chairman David Butorac. “We have recorded robust growth in the Kingdom with total subscribers increasing by over 35 percent in 2012. As part of our growth plans, we will continue to look at diverse opportunities to engage with Saudis, bringing them the sports and entertainment experiences they love.”