U-20

Leston Paul’s decision to give preference to pursuing a University degree may have been one which a number of our young outstanding footballers have chosen over the years, but his extraordinary ability and the heavy demand which was made on his natural talent required him to carefully contemplate the future before deciding on his next move. My emotions run high on this decision simply because the last 40 years of my life have been dedicated to assisting young players in making that said decision in order to build a solid foundation and balance, consisting of strong academics and superb sporting talent. Having said that, the decision was much more difficult for the former National U-17 and present U-20 captain, who had earlier led our teams in the World Youth Championships in Korea and Egypt respectively. He was targeted by T&T Pro League coaches and management to join them in their effort to emerge as champions of the annual tournament. The alleged intention of these persons will have been to pay the young man what he may have considered a reasonable wage for his services, to join the ranks of all those who felt that football would be their way of life.

It was not the beauty of the ancient land of the Pharaohs, neither was it the bobbing and weaving of the world’s most adventurous motorists.

It's been a month since Khaleem Hyland has been back from the U-20 World Cup in Egypt. The tournament provides a platform for young players to prove themselves to the world. Despite the elimination of Trinidad & Tobago in the group stage, it was a rewarding experience for Hyland.

With Egypt 2009 now a significant part of history for Trinidad and Tobago's national Under-20 team, their next quest will be to qualify for the 2012 London Olympic Games for the first time ever for T&T.

National Under 20 Team captain Leston Paul says he will be making a decision in the coming weeks whether he jets off to the United States to take up a football scholarship or whether he becomes a full time professional footballer.

Trinidad and Tobago secured their first point in the history of the FIFA Under 20 World Cup when they labored to a 0-0 draw with Paraguay in their closing Group A fixture of the FIFA Under 20 World Championship at the Al Salam Stadium, Cairo on Thursday night.

Everybody everywhere looking for green shoots.  And it’s not just an economic guava season, exacerbated by the inevitable PNM squandermania, but a feeling that hard times in football are upon us, given that our national team were already out of contention for South Africa 2010 long before the tonight's fixture in the final phase of CONCACAF qualification.

Trinidad and Tobago's national Under-20 footballers have a lot of hopes resting on their shoulders when they go into their final 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup Group A encounter against Paraguay at the Al Salam Stadium today from 9:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. T&T time).