Trinidad and Tobago’s Senior team will have their first session on Romanian soil at the FC Dinamo Stadium in Bucharest on Sunday at 6pm (11am TT time) as they continue their preparations for Tuesday’s friendly international against Romania at the National Arena in Bucharest which kicks off at 8:45pm Romania time (1:45pm TT time).
The T&T squad arrived in Bucharest just around 11pm Romania time on Saturday after an overnight stay in Gatwick.
Earlier on Saturday, the “Soca Warriors” engaged in an 80-minute training session at the Crawley Down football ground in Gatwick.
Notts County midfielder Andre Boucaud who made his debut for T&T in a 2-0 win over Iraq in West Bromwich in 2004 returned to the T&T team for the first team since 2011 and had his first session under head coaches Jamaal Shabazz and Hutson Charles along with Middlesbrough defender Justin Hoyte who looks set to make his T&T debut in Bucharest.
Boucaud said he was thrilled to be back in the T&T squad.
“I’m very delighted to be back in the Trinidad and Tobago squad. I’ve been knocking on the door for some time now and always in contact with the FA. Now I’m grateful for another opportunity and hopefully I can get some playing time and try to cement a spot in the team. I obviously want to go to the Gold Cup with the team and hopefully be part of the 2018 World Cup campaign,” Boucaud told TTFF Media on Saturday.
Goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams, currently with T&T Pro team St Ann’s Rangers, spent the last couple weeks doing personal training with national team goalkeeper coach Jefferson George. On Saturday he partnered Marvin Phillips in the session with George and looked focused on the task at hand.
“For me this return means a lot too because I was out of the squad for much of this year. I’m very keen to be part of the squad and I’ve noticed a really good spirit among the boys, even better than what we had during the Caribbean Cup and that’s a very good sign for us. Hopefully it can continue to get even better because this is the period we worked hard last year to reach to and the time is upon us now, Williams said.
“Now we’ve got to put everything into the preparations and I think these two games against Estonia and Romania will be a good test for us. Playing against these kind of countries especially in the cities like Bucharest is what we as footballers aspire towards in our careers,” Williams added.