T&T’s Under-17 footballers go into their third Pool A match of the 2015 Concacaf Under-17 Championship, against host Honduras tonight needing to avoid defeat to stay in with a chance of qualification to the World Cup.
The match between the Shawn Cooper-coached young Soca Warriors and Honduras, the third of today’s schedule kicks off from 9.30 pm (11.30 pm TT time) at the Estadio Francisco Morazan, San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
T&T is currently bottom of its six-team pool without a point after losing its opening matches against Guatemala (1-4) and USA (0-2) while Honduras is second on the table after blanking Jamaica 2-0 and drawing 1-1 with Cuba.
At the top of the standings is USA which drubbed Cuba 5-0 in its opener while Guatemala and Jamaica, both have three points and the Cubans, one.
Expected to return to the line-up for T&T is defender Sherwin Noel, who missed the encounter with the Americans after being red carded against Guatemala.
Having qualified as the best third placed team from the Caribbean Football Union, T&T is currently on a three-match losing streak, dating back to its 3-0 loss to Haiti in qualification and will need to pick up at least a point against a team it last faces at this level in 1988, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
In today’s early kick-offs, Cuba plays Jamaica from 4.30 pm (6.30 pm TT time) and Guatemala meets USA from 7 pm (9 pm TT time).
Tomorrow at the Olympic Stadium, Costa Rica faces Haiti, Panama comes up against St Lucia and Canada battles defending champions Mexico in Pool B.
The top team from each group after round-robin play advances directly to the World Cup and the other two places will be determined by the results of the final day elimination matches.
T&T Team
1-Levi Fernandez (GK); 3-Keston Julien, 4-Tekay Hoyce, 6-Kareem Riley, 7-Shakeem Patrick; 8-Joshua Burnett, 17-Jeankeon Alexander, 10-Morgan Bruce, 11-Jerren Nixon, 9-Chaz Burnett, 12-Kierron Mason; 14-Isaiah Hudson, 13-Kishon Hacksaw, 19-Noah Powder (captain), 2-Isaiah Garcia, 15-Darnell Hospedales, 16-Shobai Celestin, 18-Jean-Paul Rochford, 20-Tyrek James, 5-Shirwin Noel.
Coach: Shawn Cooper
Remaining Concacaf U-17 Championship Pool A matches
Today
Cuba vs Jamaica, 4.30 pm
Guatemala vs USA, 7pm
Honduras vs T&T, 9.30 pm
Sunday
T&T vs Jamaica, 5 pm
Cuba vs Guatemala, 7.30 pm
USA vs Honduras, 10 pm
March 10
T&T vs Cuba, 4.30 pm
USA vs Jamaica, 7 pm
Honduras vs Guatemala, 9.30 pm
Standings
Group A
Teams P W D L F A Pts
USA 2 2 0 0 7 0 6
Honduras 2 1 1 0 3 1 4
Guatemala 2 1 0 1 5 3 3
Jamaica 2 1 0 1 2 3 3
Cuba 2 0 1 1 1 6 1
T&T 2 0 0 2 1 6 0
Group B
Teams P W D L F A Pts
Mexico 2 2 0 0 9 1 6
Canada 2 2 0 0 6 3 6
Panama 2 1 0 1 8 3 3
Costa Rica 2 1 0 1 6 3 3
Haiti 2 0 0 2 1 10 0
St Lucia 2 0 0 2 0 10 0