Trinidad and Tobago Under 20 coach Zoran Vranes has shortlisted a squad of twenty two players for this country's upcoming Caribbean Football Union World Under 20 qualifier against Cuba at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on September 1.
The Yugoslavian coach will lead the contingent into a live in camp at the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence from Tuesday until the first leg against the Cubans who are coming off an impressive 7-1 victory over St Lucia which saw them advance to meet T&T.
Vranes is well aware that the match against Cuba will be a tough one for the young "Soca Warriors" after viewing their affair against St Lucia. "Cuba is a very good team and I got more of what I expected from them when they played St Lucia. I must admit that I didn't know they were that strong of a team," said Vranes.
"Their team has been together for a some time now . The Cubans have some very good individual players but they also play well as a unit and my hope is that our team will be tactically and technically better than they are. They (Cuba) also have some weaknesses and we will surely try to capitalize on them ," Vranes added to TTFF Media.
The former National Senior team coach said that he will keep a squad of twenty two players together before reducing it to eighteen, two days before the September 1 clash.
"The players who have not been selected in this squad must know that will still be considered for the second leg and other matches later on once we qualify for the next round," he said.
Once T&T gets past Cuba they will move on to Group A of the CONCACAF Final qualifying competition in Panama from October 16-20 against the hosts and two other CONCACAF nations. In related news, Two goals each from Marc Herold Gracien and Brunel Fucien led Haiti to a 5:0 victory against St. Kitts & Nevis in the deciding match in Group C of Caribbean Zone qualifying for the Under 20 Youth Tournament.
The France-based Gracien hit in the seventh and 26th minutes, while Fucien added to his four-goal haul in Haiti's opening match with goals in the 39th and 43rd minutes to put the match out of reach much to the dismay of the large crowd at Warner Park in Basseterre. Wadson Corriolan scored Haiti's fifth nine minutes from full time. Haiti now advances to a home-and-home series with the winner of Caribbean Zone Group B, the winner of that tie moving onto the CONCACAF Group B final tournament in the United States from 13-17 November 2002. The zonal opponent will be decided from 28 August - 1 September on Cayman Islands, the three-team round-robin matching Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the host country.
The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship will be played in the United Arab Emirates from March 25-April 16.
Twenty two man squad.
Kevin Graham, Sterling O'Brian, Terrance McAllister, Ochieng Abosi, Kevon Cornell, Kerron Benito, Jamal Hamid - Joe Public.
Devon Jorsling, Anton Joseph - Defence Force.
Daurance Williams, Jerol Forbes, Lee Haynes, Wendell Joseph, Devon Bristol - CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh.
Odelle Armstrong - Caledonia AIA.
Ellis Dyette - Arima Fire.
Roderick Anthony, Devon Leacock, Jan-Michael Williams, Kyle Cupid - Vibe CT 105 W Connection.
Seon Power - unattached.
Kenwyne Jones - St Anthony's College.