National Under 20 tea m head coach Zoran Vranes on Tuesday announced his final 18-man squad to contest the final Concacaf qualifying round in Guatemala City for the 2011 FIFA Under 20 World Cup, Colombia.
The squad arrived in Honduras from their training camp in Colombia on Tuesday afternoon and headed straight into a training camp during which time they will play two warm up matches against Honduras’ National Under 20 team on March 23 and 25. They then head to Guatemala City a day later ahead of their opening qualifying match against Cuba on March 30.
The squad is captained by San Juan Jabloteh midfielder Sheldon Bateau and includes experienced W Connection defender Joevin Jones as well as former National Under 17 trio Shahdon Winchester, Marcus Joseph and Akeem Adams. Jones, Adams, Winchester and Bateau have had experience with the Men’s Senior Team.
“This is the final squad of players and I think they have all deservedly earned their selections for the final tournament. We looked at several players both at home and also some from overseas such as Canada and United States.
It was not so easy for me to list the final players but of course this period in Colombia helped us to have a better, closer look at the players and we were able to come down to the final 18 players,” Vranes told TTFF Media.
“I am not worried about the capability of the players. Individually they are strong and together as a team they are more a unit now than they were last year when the qualification started and even earlier this year. They play for each other and they want to be successful very much so this is pleasing for me as a coach.
We will continue to prepare with a lot of heart and good planning and we will also be looking at our opponents and try to prepare for the way they are accustomed playing based on history and of course the knowledge we have of their current teams,” Vranes added mentioning the fact that the likes of Bateau, Joseph and Adams appeared at the previous Under 20 World Cup in Egypt in 2009 as well as the 2007 FIFA Under 17 World Cup in Korea Republic.
Following their opener against Cuba on March 30, T&T then faces Mexico on April 1. The top two teams from the four groups advance to the quarter finals with the four semi-finalists subsequently advancing to the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia from July 29-August 21.
T&T 18-man squad
Goalkeepers
John Thomas (Fatima College), Stefan Berkeley (University of Connecticut).
Defenders
Joevin Jones (W Connection), Akil Clarke (St Ann’s Rangers), Jerron Morris (Defence Force), Weslie John (W Connection), Dwight Ceballo (Ma Pau FC), Akeem Adams (W Connection), Sheldon Bateau (capt) (San Juan Jabloteh).
Midfielders
Kenaz Williams (Joe Public), Jerron Quashie (University of TT), Ryan Fredericks (W Connection), Marcus Joseph (Joe Public), Shahdon Winchester (W Connection), Isaiah Ferguson (US based).
Forwards
Johan Peltier (San Juan Jabloteh), Jerrel Britto (San Juan Jabloteh), Cordell Cato (San Juan Jabloteh).
2011 Games (With Flex).
Completed Fixtures - Venue
T&T 1:3 T&T U-17 (T&T)
T&T 2:4 Caledonia AIA Senior Team (T&T)
T&T 0:1 Canada (Miami)
T&T 0:4 DC United Senior Team (Miami)
T&T 6:1 Cali Valle FC (Colombia)
T&T 3:1 Depor FC (Colombia)
T&T 1:2 Deportivo Cali (Colombia)
T&T 1:2 America Cali Reserves (Colombia)
T&T 3:1 Deportivo de Cali (Colombia)
T&T 1:2 Deportivo Cali Senior Team (Colombia)
Stats
P W L D F A
10 3 7 0 18 21
Upcoming Fixtures
T&T vs Honduras - 23rd, March (Honduras)
T&T vs Honduras - 25th, March (Honduras)
2011 U-20 World Cup Qualifiers
T&T vs Cuba - 30th, March (Guatemala)
T&T vs Mexico - 01st, April (Guatemala)