T&T Under-20 footballers continued their build up to the Fifa Under-20 World Cup Finals in Egypt later this month with a 4-0 warm-up win on Wednesday in Turkey.
Led by goals from Uriah Bentick, Khaleem Hyland, Jamal Gay and Marcus Joseph, T&T trounced Turkish First Division club, Antalyaspor at the Antalya Atatürk Stadium, Antalya, on Wednesday. It was the first match for Hyland, who plays for Zulte Waregem and Gay of Rott Weiss Oberhausen, since joining the Zoran Vranes-coached team on Friday.
The win was the third straight for T&T on the Turkey-leg of the warm-up tour after edging the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 2-1 on Thursday and then a 4-0 win over Suril Sports on Sunday, both at the Adora Football Centre. Coach Vranes reduced his 24-man squad to 21 players with three players returning home. The trio who are due back in T&T today are injured striker Trent Lougheed, and the St Ann’s Rangers duo of Nicholas Walker and Jevon Morris.
England-born utility player, Jake Thomson of Southamption will join the team on Sunday morning in Cyprus after playing a club match.
In Cyprus, the Under-20 Warriors will play three matches, against a Cyprus XI, Australia and USA before Vranes decides on his final 21 players for the tournament. The T&T squad will arrive in Cairo, on September 21, three days before meeting host Egypt in the Fifa Under-20 World Cup opener on September 24. The young Soca Warriors also face Italy (September 28) and Italy, three days later. in their Pool A matches.