Trinidad and Tobago’s Men Under 17 Team will depart tomorrow for a ten-day training camp in Panama ahead of the CONCACAF Final Round of World Cup qualification in Honduras later this month.
Head Coach Shawn Cooper will take a 20-man squad to Panama where they will play four training matches including two against Panama’s National Under 17 team on Monday and Wednesday.
Cooper expressed optimism about the team’s chances heading into the tournament.
“I think our chances are good. We know what is ahead of us and we’ve been able to compete against these teams in past tournaments. We’ve worked very hard in the build up so far and this camp in Panama will give us an opportunity to get some much needed match preparation and allow us to do some fine tuning before we head off to Honduras,” Cooper told TTFA Media.
Commenting on his squad, he added, “We’ve added a few players from North America and one midfielder from England Morgan Bruce. These additions I believe will add a lot to the team and I expect every player to give it their best shot in the tournament.”
T&T’s opening game in Honduras is against Guatemala at the Francisco Morazan Stadium, San Pedro Sula on February 27. T&T, which qualified as the best third placed team from the Caribbean, will also face host Honduras, Jamaica, USA and Cuba, in Group A. Group B includes Canada, Haiti, Panama, Mexico, St Lucia and Costa Rica.
The tournament will crown the Confederation champion at this age level, and qualify four teams to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup Chile 2015. The top team from each group after round-robin play advance to the World Cup and the other two will be determined by the results of the final day elimination matches. The new CONCACAF Under-17 Men’s tournament format has increased the number of set games to five for each competing nation, up from two in previous editions of the Championship. The new format has been created to favor development and competition.
Staff:
Head Coach: Shawn Cooper
Manager: Christopher Gouveia
Technical Analyst: Muhammed Isa
Assistant Coach: Ross Russell
Assistant Coach: Gilbert Bateau
Equipment Manager: Devin Elcock
Physio: Roger Ryan
Physio: Michael Taylor
Players
Goalkeepers:
Levi Fernandez (Naparima College/ Civic Centre FC)
Tyrek James (Presentation College/ Civic Centre FC)
Defenders:
Isaiah Garcia (Shiva Boys/ W Connection)
Darnell Hospedales (Presentation College/ Civic Centre FC)
Keston Julien (Presentation College/ W Connection)
Kierron Mason (Naparima College/ W Connection)
Shirwin Noel (Presentation College/ W Connection)
Tekay Hoyce (East Mucurapo/ St Ann’s Rangers
Midfielders:
Isaiah Hudson (Naparima College/ W Connection)
Kareem Riley (Naparima College/ W Connection)
John Paul Rochford (Queen’s Royal College/ FC 1 Santa Rosa)
Joshua Burnett (Players Development Academy (USA))
Shobal Celestine (Naparima College/ Civic Centre FC)
Noah Powder (New York Red Bulls (USA))
Morgan Bruce (Stevenage FC (England))
Shakeem Patrick (St Anthony’s College/ St Ann’s Rangers)
Kishon Hackshaw (Trinity College East/ San Juan Jabloteh)
Forwards:
Jerren Nixon (Philadelphia Union (USA))
Jeankeon Alexander (San Juan North Secondary/ San Juan Jabloteh)
Chaz Burnett (Players Development Academy (USA))