T&T U20s to face St Vincent in CFU qualifier Friday
Story Created: Nov 15, 2010 at 10:48 PM ECT
Story Updated: Nov 15, 2010 at 10:48 PM ECT
Trinidad and Tobago's national Under-20 team will depart for St Vincent and the Grenadines today ahead of Friday's Caribbean Football Union (CFU) leg of 2011 FIFA Under-20 World Cup qualifying.
The T&T team, under head coach Zoran Vranes, are coming off a recent invitational tournament in Venezuela where they produced some encouraging performances and results, including a 2-2 draw with Cameroon and 1-1 draw with Ecuador.
Vranes expects to pull off the necessary results in the home and away tie against St Vincent, which will push T&T through to the CONCACAF Final Round next year towards the 2011 U-20 World Cup in Colombia.
"Well, we are ready for the games and while I don't expect it to be an easy first game for us in St Vincent, I believe our team has the capabilities and the energy to overcome St Vincent," Vranes told Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) media officer Shaun Fuentes prior to the team's final training session at the Larry Gomes Stadium yesterday before their departure.
"I will be surprised if they surprise us with a winning result on Friday," Vranes added.
Senior national team and W Connection striker Shahdon Winchester, who made a cameo appearance in T&T's 4-0 win over Haiti in the Digicel Caribbean Cup group phase, has been added to the Under-20 team and has already trained with his teammates, while starting senior team defender Joevin Jones has also been invited but is not likely to feature because of senior team commitments.
"Everyone who can help the team will be welcomed. Shahdon has joined us for training following the last Digicel Cup match. He needs a little more time to fit in well with his style and his understanding with the other players but he has good ability and I think he can help us," said Vranes.
Regarding Jones, Vranes added:
"Well he has to be part of the qualifying effort but we will be careful with how we deal with him because I know he is a starting member of the senior team and I don't want to undermine the senior team's effort for the Digicel Cup tournament. But, yes, he (Jones) will have to make a contribution to the Under-20 team at some stage in the qualification."
While St Vincent may not be the strongest of challengers to T&T, Vranes has emphasised the importance of avoiding complacency.
"We had a very good tour in Venezuela which showed us that we can compete and get good results against high-level opponents, but we also saw that we cannot play easy games against what we may consider to be weaker opponents, like we did in the last game against Nicaragua.
I believe that happened to us at the right time and overall I expect us to maintain a level of consistency in all of our games."
The return leg will be played on November 24.
T&T U20 squad:
1. Jamaal Francois, 2. John Thomas, 3. Jeron Quashie, 4. Dinelle Lopez, 5. Dwight Ceballos, 6. Cordell Cato
7. Shandon Winchester, 8. Sheldon Bateau, 9. Marcus Joseph, 10. Jerrel Britto, 11. Johan Peltier, 12. Jerron Morris, 13.Kenaz Williams, 14. Ryan Fredericks, 15. Wesley John, 16. Akil Clarke, 17. Kevin Raymond, 18. Ross Russell Jr, 19. Dion McCree
the full squad list on this article newsday left out dwight ceballo
