Trinidad and Tobago head coach Otto Pfister will travel to Port-au-Prince to face Haiti on August 10, with his best available players in what will be his first friendly international since taking charge of the "Soca Warriors.'
Pfister said on Saturday that he was anticipating the encounter as he sets about the putting together of the team for the upcoming 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
"It's a good opportunity for us to get a friendly international on the FIFA date. I am happy about that because we need to be playing matches as this is the way for us to evaluate where we are in our preparations and for me to have a closer look at the players, especially the ones from overseas," Pfister told TTFF Media.
"Okay it's going to be in Haiti and it's going to be a bit of an occasion there for them, being the first match at the stadium since the earthquake and we are honoured to be part of that but the most important thing for me and the team is the preparations for the World Cup qualification. This will not be an exhibition game for us because we have our work to focus on and that means working towards getting the best team ready for the qualification.
"Haiti will be ready for the game also because they are very passionate about football and they will not make it an easy game at home, so for me it's going to be an interesting match and a match that will be useful for our preparations," Pfister added.
Some of the overseas-based pros who have already trained under Pfister in June include the Ipswich Town duo of Carlos Edwards and Jason Scotland, as well as other European-based pros Khaleem Hyland, Lester Peltier and Darryl Roberts who is currently in search of a club. Pfister has also met with Stoke City striker Kenwyne Jones and has kept tabs on the players based in the United States as well as Kazakhstan-based defender Robert Primus.
Roberts added that he has settled in under Pfister's charge.
"It's been pretty decent training under him. Obviously he comes with a big background and track record and he knows what he is about. He knows what he wants for the team and how he would like us to play and approach the game.We as players just need to respond to that and the sessions have been useful over the past few weeks.Once we go into a game situation then we will now have a better idea of how we are progressing in terms of understanding how he wants the team to play," Roberts said.