NEW YORK – Mexico will host the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship in Tijuana April 21-May 2 and will face Costa Rica, Guatemala and Trinidad & Tobago in the first round.
The championship will be played at Estadio Caliente, home to Club Tijuana of the Mexican second division. With Mexico in Group B, the United States will be joined in Group A by Honduras, Canada and Cuba.
This is the third time Mexico will host the finals of the U-17 tournament. It staged the 1985 championship, and one of two groups that served as the finals in 2005.
The United States has never failed to qualify for the World Cup, advancing to the FIFA championship 13 times. Mexico has qualified the second-most, eight times, and went on win the World Cup in Peru in 2005. Costa Rica has qualified for each of the last four World Cups.
Match schedules were not immediately available, but should be confirmed with a week, CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer said.
U17s draw with hosts Mexico.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).
Trinidad and Tobago’s Under 17 footballers will have to face off with hosts Mexico in one of its CONCACAF Final Round Matches in April.
Following the draw on Thursday, T&T ended up in Group B alongside the hosts, Costa Rica and Guatemala. The fixtures will be determined later this month with the matches carded for Estadio Caliente in Tijuana from April 21-May 2.
T&T U-17 Head Coach Anton Corneal, who guided the previous T&T team to the 2007 FIFA Under 17 World Championship, was optimistic despite holding the feeling that T&T will have a mountain to climb in Tijuana.
“It’s evident that the group is a tough one but we know what is before us now and that means that we’ve got to prepare as best as possible. It brings a whole different picture to the trip to Colombia now because the players themselves will know what they are preparing to face in Mexico,” Corneal told TTFF Media.
“It’s an Under 17 tournament and in youth football, anything is possible because again it’s the first time most if not all of these players from the various teams will be playing in a competitive international tournament. In the past we’ve held our own against Mexico and we also did well against Costa Rica in 2007 even though we lost that game. This time around we will work do our best to go even further and make this happen for us. Guatemala cannot be seen as underdogs which means for us every game has a lot at stake and that will be the message to my players,” Corneal said.
The top four nations will qualify for the FIFA Under 17 World Championship in Nigeria from October 24 –November 15, 2009.