Members of the Trinidad and Tobago’s National Under 17 team would have viewed W Connection’s 3-0 defeat to Mexican club giants Chivas on Wednesday night and will prepare themselves mentally for what head coach Anton Corneal hopes is a challenging warm-up affair against Mexico’s National Under 17s on Sunday afternoon.
The junior “Soca Warriors” are continuing their build up towards the CONCACAF final round of qualification for the FIFA Under 17 World Championship in Korea.
Following their recent two-match tour to Honduras, the U17s will face the Mexicans at Fatima College Grounds, Mucurapo from 4pm on Sunday and then on Tuesday from 6pmat the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva. The Mexicans are the defending World Under 17 champions from 2005 and have the same coach in Jesus Ramirez. The nucleus of their current squad also comes from Chivas which Ramirez said recently is an advantage to their preparations.
“You can’t ask for better friendlies than this,” Corneal told TTFF Media on Thursday as he looked ahead to the two games. “ It will give us a chance to t get more exposure against a top team and one which will be similar to Costa Rica which is in our qualifying group. This will give us an idea on what part of our game we need to keep building on. We need to improve on our defense against dead ball situations better than we did against Honduras.”
Corneal, who has Hutson Charles as an assistant coach in his staff, added that there are now 24 players in camp and the final 20-man team will be selected over the next few weeks leading up to the opening qualifier against Costa Rica scheduled for April 28 in Kingston, Jamaica.
Currently the team, skippered by goalie Jesse Fullerton, has been undergoing strength endurance training with team trainer Gilbert Bateau.
“We have been doing strength endurance work but, because of the games this weekend we have curtailed it a bit and will resume after the second game.
“Part of the endurance training entails running hills and we usually do this on the Maracas and Caura Valleys three days a week for about 90 minutes in the evening,” Corneal explained.
Over the past few months, the former T&T national said he has witnessed a change in attitude by the players, adding that he is seeing an increase in desire to improve and strive for success. we will continue regular preparations after the games.
“What we have seen is a change in attitude towards preparations in training.. The players they are consciously working hard and that is a good base to have. These players want it badly. Maybe it can be a trickle down from our experience at the 2006 World Cup, They know it will take a lot of work but they are willing to do all it takes in an attempt to fulfill their dreams.”
One new player, US-born midfielder Isiah Ferguson out of New York is expected to make his debut against the Mexicans who will arrive in the country on Saturday as they have encountered problems in obtaining visas to enter the country, similar to what was encountered by Club Chivas for last month’s Champions Cup match with W Connection.