Trinidad and Tobago’s Under 17 footballers are set to go into an extensive preparation program inclusive of international warm up matches as it gets ready to go into final round CONCACAF qualifying action towards the 2007 FIFA Under 17 World Championship in Korea.
This Sunday, the team of 20 players comprising mostly of members of the outfit which finished third in last year’s CFU Under 16 Championship, heads out to Honduras where it will play three matches including one against that country’s national Under 17 team. This however is not the final squad expected to go into the tournament. Some of the names with past experience making this trip include Daniel Joseph, Leston Paul and prolific goalscorer Stephan Knox, Brenton Balbosa and Robert Primus.
Head coach Anton Corneal will accompany the team which has been in training at home since early December. It was also revealed that the T&T team will play two training matches against Mexico at home in the first week of March before a proposed training camp in the United States. This is all being planned by the TTFF as it continues its preparation phases for national teams.
“I think we have the right games in place before the tournament and the fact that it is being played in Jamaica could also be helpful to us in terms of the conditions. With that said, we are now trying to ensure that we prepare against the right type of opposition to ensure that our chances are just as good as any for qualifying for the World Championship,” Corneal told TTFF Media.
“The Federation is working in different areas because we are talking about our next generation of footballers here. And the coaching personnel has tried to work along with the resources available to ensure that we are not left behind,” Corneal added.
The team will train on Friday at the Ato Boldon Stadium before a full day of protocol and etiquette training at the DR Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence, Macoya on Saturday prior to its departure to Honduras.
T&T goes into Group B action in the qualifying series from April 28-May 6 in Jamaica, taking on Costa Rica in its first match at the National Stadium on April 28. They then face Jamaica on April 30, United States on May 4 and Canada on May 6. From this group, three top three of the five nations will advance to the World Championship while two teams will advance from the other group being contested in Honduras including the hosts, Mexico, Haiti and El Salvador.