T&T Under-20 footballers will be among the first set of teams to arrive in Cairo, Egypt for the Fifa Under-20 World Cup which begins on Thursday, when they touch down at approximately 10:45 pm tonight (3 pm T&T time) after a short flight from Lanarca, Cyprus.
The team will check into the Radisson Hotel, Alexandria after what is expected to be a two and a half hour bus ride from Cairo.
The 22-man young Soca Warriors squad was expected to have one final training session in Aiya Napa this morning before leaving the Olympic Lagoon Resort. During the one week stay in Cyprus, T&T played two warm-up matches, both of which ended in defeats to fellow qualifiers, Australia (2-1) and USA (2-0) on Thursday and Friday respectively.
In Thursday’s opening match, T&T will face the hosts at the 86,000-seat Egyptian Army Stadium Borg Al-Arab at before playing Italy and Paraguay in its other Pool A matches. Venezuela and Cameroon were the first teams to arrive in Egypt for the 24-team competition which ends on October 16.
Looking ahead to Thursday, T&T coach, Zoran Vranes say he expects the T&T team to settle in prior to the opener. “We will ensure that our boys settle in as quickly as possible.
The climate should not be a problem because we spent some time in Cyprus to get accustomed to the conditions which will be similar to Egypt,” Vranes said. “Of course this is a very big occasion for the team and for the country and a lot will be happening in Cairo for the first game.
Our boys will be looking forward to everything no doubt and we will embrace this experience and now look forward to the remainder of the preparations for our first match,” Vranes added.
T&T Under-20 squad
Goalkeepers:
Glenroy Samuel, Andre Marchan, Jesse Fullerton.
Defenders:
Aubrey David, Curtis Gonzales, Sheldon Bateau, Akeem Adams, Mekeil Williams, Daneil Cyrus, Robert Primus, Uriah Bentick.
Midfielders:
Leston Paul, Kevin Molino, Sean De Silva, Khaleem Hyland, Jean-Luc Rochford, Marcus Joseph, Jake Thomson.
Forwards: Jamal Gay, Qian Grosvenor, Juma Jamal Clarence, Marvin Manswell.
Technical staff:
Cheryl Abrams (head of delegation),
Christopher De Silva (manager),
Zoran Vranes (coach),
Hutson Charles (assistant coach),
Anton Corneal (asst coach),
Zada Hassanali (doctor),
Michael Williams (equipment manager),
Ashton Mills (physiotherapist),
Gilbert Bateau (trainer),
Shaun Fuentes (media officer),
Anthony Salandy (videographer).