Anton Corneal, coach of the national Under-20 team, has confirmed that the local football federation has sent airline tickets for collegiate students Makan Hislop, Ancil Farrier and Kevin Crooks to join the side for Friday’s match against Cuba.
Contacted yesterday, Corneal said: “We are trying to get those three guys back in time.”
However, Corneal pointed out that FIFA has no jurisdiction over players at universities in the USA and their return was dependent on the administration of their respective schools.
Hislop attends the University of South Carolina, while Farrier is at the University of Southern Connecticut and Kevin Crooks at Young Harris College.
The T&T Under-20 team continued preparation for the match against Cuba with a 6-2 win over WASA Clean and White on Sunday, while the national Under-17s rebounded from a 1-0 defeat at the feat of Police to beat San Fernando Giants 3-2.
Coach Nigel Grovesnor noted that there was concern over injuries to some key players — Javed Mohammed, Lester Peltier, Brendon Boucaud and Nyron Orr.
The Under-17s are also preparing for their CONCACAF World Championships qualifier against Cuba, to be played on the same day.
The winners of the T&T/Cuba and Jamaica/Haiti Under-17 matches will be the two CFU representatives in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying, to be held in New Brunswick (Canada) and Costa Rica in May.
The two group winners will then automatically qualify for the 2005 FIFA Under-17 World Championships in Peru, while the group runners-up will contest a home-and-away play-off for the third CONCACAF berth for the championships.
The winner of the Cuba/T&T Under-20 series will join Costa Rica, Panama and host team USA for matches from January 12 to 16 in Carson, California.