Trinidad and Tobago’s senior men’s team will have an idea where they are at ahead of the CONCACAF Gold Cup which begins in a few days, when they face Haiti’s senior team today from 5 p.m. in a closed-door training match at the Central Broward Regional Complex, Fort Lauderdale, USA.
Meantime, it was announced on Tuesday that T&T will play an international friendly against Mexico in Salt Lake City on September 4. With the game scheduled on a FIFA fixture date, both squads are expected to bring their top stars.
Both Trinidad and Tobago and Caribbean rivals Haiti are in final stages of preparation for the Gold Cup, which begins next Tuesday. Haiti face 2013 beaten finalists Panama in Texas. The “Soca Warriors” arrived in Sunrise, Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday evening for a six-day training camp, ahead of their CONCACAF Gold Cup. They face Guatemala in Group C action on July 9 at Soldier Field, Chicago. They also play group matches against Cuba in Phoenix on July 12 and Mexico on July 15 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Led by head coach Stephen Hart, T&T are based at the Sawgrass Grand Hotel in Sunrise and will be using the hotel’s training facility over the next few days. Currently, Argentine club Boca Juniors are also engaged in a short training camp at Sawgrass Grand. The T&T 2006 World Cup squad was also based there during the 2006 campaign under Leo Beenhakker, and in 2005 under Bertille St Clair prior to an away qualifier versus Guatemala.
Joining the Soca Warriors on Wednesday were US-based duo Joevin Jones and Kevan George along with Under 20 forward Kadeem Corbin. All three players took part in the training session on yesterday morning, while Iceland-based forward Jonathan Glenn arrived just after midday. Lester Peltier and Cordell Cato will arrive later in the week.
Of the September 4 international, Hart said it prepares T&T for the start the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign in November.
“World Cup qualification demands complete planning and proper preparation. This is the quality of opposition we need to get into our campaign,” Hart told TTFA Media yesterday.
The game falls in line with some of the international friendlies against quality opposition over the past year or more including against the likes of Argentina, Iran and Panama.
TTFA President Raymond Tim Kee added: “I’m quite happy that we have been able to land this international friendly match which we understand will be played before a near sellout crowd. The Mexican team is extremely popular and we feel very good about being part of its US 2015 tour.”
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