T&T’s senior men’s national team may enjoy a one-time opportunity to participate at the Copa America, for its milestone 2016 tournament, but head coach Stephen Hart has insisted that focus is primarily on the Caribbean Cup itself.
An agreement was reached recently between key officials of Comnebol (South American confederation) and Concacaf, which resulted in an opportunity for six teams from the latter confederation to participate at the 2016 Copa America.
That edition will mark the 45th edition and the 100th anniversary of the inaugural South American cup. All ten Comnebol teams will participate, as will host USA and Mexico, along with four other Concacaf teams, one of which will qualify from the CFU Caribbean Cup, the Copa Centroamericana (Central America) and two from the Gold Cup.
“The aims and objectives of the Caribbean Cup has not changed for T&T; the objective remains to qualify,” said Hart.
T&T needs to qualify for the Caribbean Cup by finishing among the top two teams in the four-team second-round group. The CFU qualifiers take place between October 6-13. The Caribbean Cup finals will take place in Jamaica from November 9-18. A top-four finish at the Caribbean Cup will seal 2015 Gold Cup action for T&T, while a win in the regional tournament will see T&T qualify for the 2016 Copa America.
“The fact that the winning team will play in the Copa America is an added bonus and incentive. Obviously, the experience of playing in such a high profile tournament can only serve to enhance the experience of both players and staff.”
Asked if qualification to the Copa America will be given similar priority to the World Cup qualifiers, Hart replied, “I am not sure that this is a priority. I believe it will be a one-off experiment. The World Cup qualifiers remain our primary long-term objective and we should never lose focus of this fact.”
Turning his attention to T&T’s June 4 friendly international against Argentina, Hart said, “we are extremely hopeful to have a short camp for approximately eight days before departure. We had planned for one international game within that camp period. Unfortunately, that won’t be a reality.” The squad, which for the first time includes former England youth team and current League Two-based defender Gavin Hoyte, was named on Tuesday.