This country’s National Under 17 Men’s team will depart for Cali, Colombia on Wednesday afternoon (5pm) to take part in the Eleventh Tournament of the Americas.
This will be the second time T&T is participating in the tournament and will serve as part of preparations for the team’s appearance at the CONCACAF Final Round of qualification towards the 2013 FIFA Under 17 World Cup in United Arab Emirates.
T&T, under head coach Shawn Cooper, topped the CFU qualifying group earlier this year with wins over Guyana, British Virgin Islands and Suriname at the Ato Boldon and Hasely Crawford Stadium.
The team will spend eleven at the tournament which includes other national teams from Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Venezuela and other top Colombian clubs.
Cooper was grateful for what he said would be valuable exposure to the team prior to the qualifiers next year in Panama City.
“I believe this tournament has come about at the right time. We haven’t played any international matches since the qualifiers. The players have been at their clubs and participating in the schools league but nothing is as beneficial as international match practice,” Cooper told TTFF Media.
“We have a couple new faces in the team as well so we’ll be looking to see how they fit into our system of play. We’ve been to this tournament before with a previous youth team and the conditions are ideal for preparations and the match ups will be perfect from some of these South American teams,” Cooper added.
The team’s trip is being funded by the Ministry of Sports. The invitation to the tournament came by way of reference from former T&T head coach Francisco Maturana.
The T&T squad includes three US-based players including new addition Kyle Braithwaite of DC United.
T&T U-17 Squad for Colombia Tour, November 28th – December 10th, 2012
Players
D’eandre Villaroel (Fatima College)/ San Juan Jabloteh
Stephon Seepersad (Naparima College)/ W. Connection
Josiah Trimmingham (San Juan North Secondary)/ San Juan Jabloteh
Mateon Watson (Naparima College)/ W. Connection
Shannon Gomez (St. Augustine Secondary)/ San Juan Jabloteh
Leland Archer (Fatima College)/ St. Ann’s Rangers
Maurice Ford (Belmont Boys Secondary)/ St. Ann’s Rangers
Brendon Creed (Fatima College)/ SKHY F.C.
Jabari Mitchell (Naparima College)/ W. Connection
Jarred Dass (Naparima College)/ W. Connection
Dominic Jangoo (Trinity College)/ SKHY F.C.
Matthew Woo Ling (Fatima College)/ W. Connection
Kishun Seecharan (El Dorado West Secondary)/ 1st FC Santa Rosa
Anderson Toussaint (Princess Town West Secondary)/ SFA Centre of Excellence
Akeem Garcia (St. Augustine Secondary)/ San Juan Jabloteh
Yafeu Rougier (St. Benedict’s College)/ W. Connection
Weah Adams (Roxborough Secondary)/ Roxborough Lakers FC
Andre Fortune (US based)/ Needham B. Broughton High School
Mani Walcott (US based)/ Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Kyle Braithwaite (US based)/ D.C. United
Staff
Anton Corneal – Technical Director
Shawn Cooper – Head Coach
Christopher Gouveia - Manager
Ross Russell – Assistant Coach/Goalkeeping Coach
Leonson Lewis – Assistant Coach
Terrence Marcelle – Assistant Coach
Michael Taylor - Physio
Natalie Thomas-Charles – Equipment Manager