A 20-man Trinidad and Tobago Under 20 Men’s football team will depart for St Vincent/Grenadines on Monday at 4pm on a Caribbean Airlines Charter flight to contest the Caribbean Football Union Under 20 World qualifying series for the 2013 FIFA Under 20 World Cup.
The squad will be led by coach Ross Russell who is holding the position of interim head coach in the absence of Michael McComie who is currently under investigation by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation following an incident involving a player from the squad. William Wallace who managed the Under 23 team earlier this year will also travel as team manager.
Midfielder Duane Muckette of 1st Santa Rosa FC will captain the T&T team which goes into action against Guyana at 5:30pm on Wednesday. T&T also faces Suriname on August 10th and St Vincent two days later.
The group winner will advance to the CFU Final round in November in Jamaica. Out of the eight-team CFU Finals (including group winners, three best second placed finishers and hosts Jamaica), five teams will advance to the CONCACAF finals in Mexico next February from which four teams advances to the Under 20 World Cup in Turkey.
“The team has been hard at work in preparing for this tournament and will definitely be looking to top this group and move on to the final round. We’ve had success at this level before qualifying for two Under 20 World Cups and this team wants to make it a third appearance for Trinidad and Tobago at FIFA Under 20 World Cup,” Russell told TTFF Media.
In other qualifying action so far, Cuba withstood the 84th-minute ejection of Abel Martinez and held on for a 0-0 draw with the Dominican Republic on Monday to advance to the final round of Caribbean qualifying for the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship.
Haiti won Group 3 on Sunday and Puerto Rico finished in second with seven points, guaranteeing a place for both in Jamaica.
Nicaragua qualified for the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship finals for the first time in its history, beating host Honduras 1-0 on Saturday to join fellow Central American side Costa Rica.
Jairo Jimenez scored a 77th-minute winner and 10-man Panama beat Guatemala 1-0 on Sunday to send itself and El Salvador to the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship.
T&T final squad for St Vincent.
Goalkeepers.
1.John-Rames Thomas, 21.Quesi Weston.
Defenders.
3.Alvin Jones, 2.Anthony Charles, 5.Damani Richards, 12.Dario Holmes, 7.Neil Benjamin, 13.Shannon Gomez.
Midfielders.
15.Shaquille Nesbitt, 6.Adan Noel, 8.Duane Muckette (capt), 11.Xavier Rajpaul, 4.Kerron Bethelmy, 10.Jomal Williams, 19.Marcus Gomez, 14.Akeem Garcia.
Forwards.
9.Dwight Quintero, 17.Shackiel Henry, 18.Kye West, 16.Marcus Bernard.
Fixtures
08-Aug-12, T&T vs Guyana, Victoria Park, Kingstown.
10-Aug-12, T&T vs Suriname, Victoria Park, Kingstown.
12-Aug-12, T&T vs St Vincent, Victoria Park, Kingstown.
GP W T L GF GA GD Pts
Guyana 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 0
St. Vincent 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 0
Suriname 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 0
Trinidad & Tobago 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 0