Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) general secretary Sheldon Phillips spoked with the Soca Warriors Online this morning and gave us a quick update on the Trinidad and Tobago football team in Florida.
Phillips said that: "I saw the guys briefly yesterday at their training camp and everyone is in great form and working extremely hard."
"Leo Beenhakker is here in Florida with the team and both him and new head coach Stephen Hart have a great working vibes going with each other. Beenhakker is acting as a mentor and is supporting the staff, he is happy to be here, he will look to assist in the technical department as well."
"The players are feeding off the professional respect both men have for each other. The spirit is very high among the players, they've adapted well."
"All of the other staff members are also working exceptionally well together. Assistant coaches Derek King, Hutson Charles and Jefferson George are very happy and have meshed really well with Hart."
"The team is staying at the Holiday Inn and have been under immense training for the past 2 weeks. They've had double sessions at the Holiday Inn training ground."
"During an eleven vs eleven inter-squad match yesterday everyone was involved and looked determined. So, it is indeed all hands on deck from here on."
"Everyone likes their new training gear and it's looking really nice as well."
"Today, the team will play a closed door scrimmage against a semi-pro Club from Plantation, Florida."
"We've tried to get games against Orlando City, Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Tampa FC but all fell through, the season is about to be wrapped up and teams just couldn't add T&T into their tight schedule as some had games too close."
"Guatemala also pulled out as they are playing the United States in the west side of the country and just couldn't squeeze T&T into their schedule as the turn around time was hard for them to make, however, one can expect to see a friendly game against the Central Americans very soon."
Head coach Stephen Hart mentioned that: "Players are working really hard and training has been excellent thus far."
"No games was put in place before I came on-board, so not much I could do about that at the moment."
"We have a lot of things to do in setting up a Management / Administration structure. The TTFA acknowledges that. This would serve as better tracking of players and working with Clubs (etc), ended Hart."
The Trinidad and Tobago team meanwhile will leave for New York on Saturday on a chartered flight and land directly into New Jersey's Newark Airport.
The Warriors are schedule to play El Salvador in their opening match at the Red Bull Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey from 7:30.
Phillips advise us that in-addition to a soon to be online store their is a strong possibility that shirts will be on sale at the match venue and the team will more than likely be wearing their red kit.
All games will be broadcasted live on TV in the United States. FOX Sports Media Group, for the first time ever, is televising all 25 matches of the event, with three slated to be shown on FOX Sports, including the final on Sunday, July 28 (4:00 PM ET) from historic Soldier Field in Chicago.
Long-time broadcast partner Univison will again televise all games on its Spanish-language network platforms with 22 of them on open air channels Univision and UniMas and 3 group stage matches on Univision Deportes.
VIDEO: - T&T vs El Salvador Gold Cup preview (BOTH GAMES)
Head to Head Gold Cup Meet.
2007 - El Salvador 2 (Sánchez 38, Alas 81) v T&T 1 (Spann 9)
1996 - El Salvador 3 (Diaz Arce 34, 72-Pen, Cerritos 50) v T&T 2 (Latapy 59, 64)
T&T’s All-time Gold Cup scorers
4—Arnold Dwarika,
3—Stern John, Russell Latapy,
2—Leonson Lewis, Jerren Nixon,
1—Marvin Andrews, Christopher Birchall, Cornell Glen, Clint Marcelle, Errol McFarlane, David Nakhid, Silvio Spann, Alvin Thomas, Mickey Trotman, Dwight Yorke.
Trinidad & Tobago Squad
Goalkeepers
21.Jan-Michael Williams (St Ann’s Rangers), 22.Cleon John (North East Stars), 1.Marvin Phillip (Central FC).
Defenders
5.Carlyle Mitchell (Vancouver Whitecaps/Canada), 20.Seon Power (Chainat FC/Thailand), 6.Daneil Cyrus (W Connection), 32.Radanfar Abu Bakr (FC Vostok/Kazakhastan), 3.Joevin Jones (W Connection), 26.Curtis Gonzales (Defence Force), 25.Aubrey David (Caledonia AIA), 17.Justin Hoyte (Middlesbrough FC/England).
Midfielders
18.Densill Theobald (captain) (Caledonia AIA), 8.Khaleem Hyland (Racing Genk/Belgium), 10.Kevin Molino (Orlando City/United States), 14.Andre Boucard (Notts County/England), 16.Kevon Carter (Defence Force), 11.Carlos Edwards (Ipswich Town/England), 7.Christopher Birchall (Port Vale/England), 12.Darryl Roberts (Samsunspor/Turkey), 19.Keon Daniel (Philadelphia Union/USA).
Forwards
9.Kenwyne Jones (Stoke City/England), 13.Cornell Glen (Shillong Lajong/India), 23.Jamal Gay (Caledonia AIA).
El Salvador Squad
Goalkeerpers
1.Dagoberto Portillo (Luis Angel Firpo), 18.Benji Villalobos (Aguila), 22.Derby Carrillo (Santa Tecla).
Defenders
2.Moises Xavier Garcia (Luis Angel Firpo), 3.Victor Turcios (RoPS/Finland), 4.Steven Purdy (Chivas USA/USA), 5.Jose Miguel Granadino (FAS).
Midfielders
6.Richard Menjivar (Atlanta Silverbacks/USA), 7.Darwin Ceren (Juventud Independiente), 8.Osael Romero (Alianza), 10.Kevin Santamaria (Santa Tecla), 12.Andres Flores (Isidro Metapan), 13.Alexander Larin (FAS), 15.Darwin Bonilla (Aguila), 16.Jaime Alas (Rosenborg/Norway), 19.Gerson Mayen (FAS), 20.Josue Odir Flores (Alianza), 21.Nestor Renderos (FAS).
Forwards
23.Jose Isidro Gutierrez (Motagua/Honduras), 17.Mark Lester Blanco (Isidro Metapan), 14.Dustin Corea (Skive IK/Denmark), 11.Rodolfo Zelaya (Alianza), 9.Rafael Burgos (Kecskeméti/Hungary).
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