A 22-man Trinidad and Tobago Under 20 squad arrived in Cali, Colombia yesterday to begin a live-in training camp ahead of their Concacaf Under 20 World Cup qualifying tournament later this month in Guatemala City.
Under head coach Zoran Vranes, the squad will stay for 15 days in Cali during which time they will play five training games. They journey to Panama and Costa Rica for two other friendlies before heading to Guatemala City for their opening qualifying match against Cuba on March 30. They face Mexico two days later.
The squad is captained by San Juan Jabloteh defender Sheldon Bateau who returned home recently from a trial with American Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas.
Vranes' squad also includes young but experienced defender Joevin Jones who has made eleven appearances for the T&T Senior team.
Players such as Akeem Adams and Marcus Joseph who appeared for T&T at the previous Under-20 World Cup in Egypt, as well as W Connection striker Shahdon Winchester are also in the mix.
Vranes is anticipating the next few weeks as he expects the squad possesses the necessary experience and ability to progress to the World Cup in Colombia.
"We have a lot of players with potential and experience to take us to another World Cup. But everything is not paper as you know, it's what we do out there on the playing field and this is why I say that the next couple of weeks will be very important for us," Vranes told TTFF Media.
"This camp is going to tell us a lot and will be very useful especially as we have a good squad of players together. With the right application and good discipline I think we will be ready to go to Guatemala and achieve the results to take us forward," Vranes added.
TTFF President Oliver Camps emphasised that the Federation will be do their best to ensure the team is prepared in the best way possible.
"It's a costly outing to prepare a national team but we have to ensure the team is up to scratch in terms of its readiness for the qualification phase because they are on the verge of qualifying for a second consecutive World Cup at the Under-20 level," Camps said.
"Despite the financial challenges that the Federation is facing we want to still ensure that our national teams do not suffer.
We again have to depend on Mr Jack Warner for his assistance for which we are grateful but overall there is much room for additional assistance as it's the only way possible for our national teams to get the necessary exposure and preparation if we are to make it through to the various World Cups."
The Concacaf tournament runs from March 28 to April 10. It will be a 12-team tournament, the preliminary round of which will involve four three-team groups to determine who advances to the quarter-finals.
The four semi-finalists will qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Trinidad and Tobago Squad -
John Thomas, Stefan Berkley (goalkeepers); Dinell Lopez, Ross Russell, Joevin Jones, Akil Clarke, Jeron Morris, Weslie John, Dwight Ceballo, Akeem Adams, Kevin Raymond (defenders); Sheldon Bateau, Alex Knaggs, Marcus Joseph, Isaiah Melville-Ferguson, Kenaz Williams, Jerron Quashie, Cordell Cato, Ryan Fredericks (midfielders); Shahdon Winchester, Johan Peltier, Jerrel Britto (strikers).