Trinidad and Tobago Under-20 football team coach Anton Corneal has made a call for regional, and international exposure, for the national youth teams.
The national Under-20 squad recently failed in their bid to qualify for the World Youth Championships in the Netherlands when they were beaten 6-1 by hosts United States, 2-1 by Costa Rica and 3-1 by Panama in Group A of the CONCACAF Final Round qualifiers. I think an overall comment would mean that we still have a lot to catch up with, admitted Corneal. If we dont get the type of exposure we would not catch up with those other teams.
Corneal continued, a lot of people would say oh, that wouldnt make a difference, it does. It is someone that has experience against somebody that doesnt have it in any field of life and weve actually suffered because of it, added the former national midfielder. Weve closed the gap in certain areas but it takes a little bit more than technically and tactically. Putting the teams performances in proper perspective, Corneal said: I think defensively, at times, we ball-watched a little bit, at times I thought the occasions confused us. We could see some players not doing things with confidence and a lot because they second-guessed, especially in the first game (versus USA) where we sat back and looked.
In the other games we saw signs where were physically just as fit. We created a lot of chances, he revealed. To the end of (both games), we were all over those teams. The former Malta Carib Alcons standout added: we could see parts of the game that weve improved a lot. But if we have no exposure between now and then, the same thing is going to happen again.
Concerning the immediate future of the team, Corneal stated: were hoping for them to continue (but) that will have to depend on what (is) decided with the team because this is the same players that would probably be used with the CAC Games, Pan American Games and the Olympic qualifying. My (own) thinking (is that) we should prepare for the Olympic Qualifying Games and use the CAC and Pan American Games as stages towards the Olympic qualifying and also give these players as much experience for the 2010 World Cup, if we plan ahead. And we also have to hope that we all see it that way, he ended.