The Haitian Football Federation has announced Frenchman Patrice Neveu as its new head coach just in time for the upcoming CONCACAF Copa Centenario playoff qualifying match against T&T on January 8 in Panama City.
The Haitian team will assemble in Miami from December 27 for a training camp during which Neveu will take charge of the team for the first time. The Haitian FA has called up 35 players for this training camp. Haiti are coming off a 1-0 loss to Jamaica at home in World Cup qualifying action.
T&T midfielder Andre Boucaud meantime, says he expects the encounter to be a keenly contested one but certainly a match for the winning in T&T’s favour.
“There’s no doubt the game is going to be tough as hell,” Boucaud said. “This is like a final for a chance to qualify for what is maybe the next biggest tournament for teams in the region outside of the World Cup. But I think we will be ready. We‘ve got to prepare well and I think that will happen in the time we’ll spend together in the training camp and we’ll be focused and ready for the match.
“Everyone is very keen on ensuring we get the result to take us to the Copa because it doesn’t get much better than this when it comes to competing against some of the best teams in the world.”
The T&T team will enter a live-in training camp in Trinidad from December 27 to January 6 in preparation for the clash with Haiti.
Guatemala coach quits amid chaos.
Guatemala is in search of a new head coach ahead of its next set of 2018 World Cup qualifying matches in March after Argentina Ivan Sopegno quit his position and returned to club Comunicaciones. His contract was set to expire at the end of 2015.
Guatemala lost at home 2-1 to T&T in November before defeating St Vincent and the Grenadines 4-0 on the road. Guatemala will face the United States twice in March in upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Guatemalan football federation president Bryan Jimenez, and its secretary general, Hector Trujillo, were indicted by US authorities, along with its former representative on the FIFA executive committee, Rafael Salguero. And reports are that amid the chaos, Sopegno opted to quit his position.