U-17

Members of the T&T Under-17 squad at the Intercontinental Playa Bonita Resort, Panama, yesterday. T&T tackles Canada in a Group B encounter in the Concacaf Under-17 Championship which begins tonight in Panama.

The João Havelange Centre of Excellence, formerly known as the João Havelange CONCACAF Centre of Excellence, has done a U-turn of sorts regarding the Trinidad and Tobago national under-17 team but the result is the same.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Under 17 national team arrived in Panama City on Thursday night to engage in the final round of CONCACAF qualification for the 2013 FIFA Under 17 World Cup.

Former T&T winger Leonson Lewis is expecting the national Under-17 men’s team to perform creditably at the upcoming Concacaf final round of U-17 World Cup qualifiers in Panama City and is optimistic of T&T sneaking into the semifinal round.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Under 17 footballers held the United States’ Under 17s to a 2-2 draw in their final warm up at the IMG Academy in Tampa last week ahead of the CONCACAF Final Round of qualification for the FIFA Under 17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates later this year.

Trinidad and Tobago’s National Under 17 team will face the United States Under 17 team in two-warm up matches in Bradenton, Florida later this month as both countries continue their preparations for the CONCACAF Under 17 round of qualifiers for the 2013 FIFA Under 17 World Cup.

U-17 World Cup Qualifying is just around the corner, and the United States U-17 National Team is playing in a series of friendlies at IMG Academy to ready them for what’s ahead. The teams they are facing are fellow CONCACAF participants, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.

The Trinidad and Tobago national under-17 football team was dealt a low blow to its United Arab Emirates 2013 Under-17 World Cup chances yesterday when the teenaged “Soca Warriors” were denied any chance of practicing on the Marvin Lee Stadium at the Dr João Havelange Centre of Excellence, which was a key part of their preparations.