Trinidad and Tobago’s Men’s Under 17 team got off to a winning start at the Tournament of the Americas in Cali, Colombia when they defeated Seleccion Meta 1-0 on Friday.
The squad is currently in Cali for the eleventh edition of the tournament as they continue their preparations for the CONCACAF Final round of qualification towards the 2013 FIFA Under 17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
T&T’s winning goal came from 1st Santa Rosa FC’s Kishun Seecharan in the 54th minute.
T&T are scheduled to face Academia Tolimense today and will also meet the Under 17 team of Argentine club Boca Juniors on Sunday.
Head coach Shawn Cooper described the team’s outing as good test for his team which was able to travel for the tournament through assistance from the Ministry of Sports.
“It was a competitive game in the sense that it was a good work out for us following our arrival in Cali and the fact that we obviously had to take a day or two to settle down here,” Cooper told TTFF Media.
“The team had not played a full match together since the CFU qualifiers so it was a good opportunity to get them back into match fitness.
The schedule is quite tight here because there is a game everyday but its good preparation for us. The conditions are quite good and the teams are of a pretty decent level as well.
We’ll be trying to get the best out of this in terms of preparation and match fitness during the remainder of our stay here,” Cooper added from the Hotel Casona in Cali.
The under 17 teams of Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela and Aston Villa are also in the tournament but are not in T&T’s first round group.
T&T Starting 1X: - Stephon Seepersad, Shannon Gomez, Marteon Watson, Josiah Trimmingham, Maurice Ford, Brendon Creed (capt), Matthew Woo Ling, Jabari Mitchell, Akeem Garcia, Kishun Seecharan, Yafeu Rougier.
Subs Used: - Dominic Jangoo 51st, Weah Adams 58th, Anderson Toussaint 70th, Leland Archer 78th.