Latest News Men's Youth Teams UNDER 23S TACKLE GUYANA AT DWIGHT YORKE STADIUM
Trinidad and Tobago’s National Olympic footballers will face Guyana’s senior men’s team in a warm-up match at the Dwight Yorke Stadium from 6pm on Thursday.
The Angus Eve-coached team has been in Tobago since Sunday, engaged in a training camp for the week and will be looking to follow up with another positive showing following their 1-0 victory over Finland last month at the same venue.
Eve is optimistic that his players will put on another decent showing as they continue their build up to the CONCACAF final round of Olympic qualification in Carson, California next month.
“We’ve settled in well for yet another camp and so far the preparations are going according to plan. It’s always a good opportunity for the boys when we have to face a senior international team. We all know Guyana’s capabilities and we’ll be looking to get the most out of the match,” Eve told TTFF Media.
The T&T players were met by Honourable Minister of Sport Anil Roberts on Tuesday night at Rovanel’s Hotel in Tobago, where he addressed them and gave them assurances of the Ministry’s support towards their 2012 Olympic qualifying aspirations.
Guyana meantime, with several home-based players, lost 2-1 to a Tobago eleven coached by Bertille St Clair, at the Bacolet venue on Tuesday.
Guyana head coach Jamaal Shabazz will be hoping to see his team secure a better result against the T&T Under 23s.
“We are seeking to widen the pool of players so that our locally based Guyana players can challenge for a spot in the Team for the qualifiers, stated Shabazz who has not included any of his 6 English based players in a squad that only has two players who were in the team that helped Guyana to the 2-1 over T&T in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
"This is an important trip for the locally based Guyana players and getting them exposed is vital to the overall program,” he told TTFF Media.
"Most of them are Under 23 but we have got to start the building process and these games against Tobago and the T&T U23's are ideal avenues for some of these youngsters to gain exposure, stated Shabazz.
Shabazz has called up four Trinidad-based players all of whom plays for his club Caledonia AIA in the TT Pro League and one Canadian based player in Taylor Benjamin.
Guyana will play matches against St Vincent and the Grenadines (19) and Grenada (23) to complete their Caribbean tour.
The local based squad returns to Guyana on February 24 where they team with their foreign based contingent for a match against Guatemala at the Providence Stadium on February 29.
