Trinidad and Tobago’s “Soca Warriors” will play away matches next month against Jordan and Croatia prior to going to the United States for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup in July.
T&T will also have a Miami camp and will also play Caribbean rivals before going into competition on July 9 against Guatemala.
Raymond Tim Kee, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association revealed that the away matches are confirmed. He said that the matches arose out of discussions he had with the King of Jordan and other officials, while on FIFA business.
Attempts had also been made to play Venezuela however they will be involved in Copa America action, while a return match against Panama was shelved after information was received that the Central Americans wanted to field an Under-23 team.
National coach Stephen Hart had hoped to have matches against a Central American and a South American team in the build-up since, T&T will open the tournament against Guatemala and will also meet the world-rated Mexicans.
“The only Caribbean team we would consider playing at this stage is Jamaica or Haiti. The problems with the Central American and South American teams is that most of the good ones already had matches, while some will be involved in Copa America action,” Tim Kee told the Express.
The TTFA president said that a decision was taken to accept away invitations rather than play at home because it made financial sense. Jordan for instance will take care of much of the expenses, except for travel to London. Tim Kee said the cash-strapped TTFA is at the moment unable to accept the cost of bringing teams to Trinidad and Tobago— not even Haiti.
“The Haitians have agreed to play us,” Tim Kee said. “So, we have invited the Haitians to play us in Miami, where there is a large Haitian population.”