Trinidad and Tobagos senior footballers will continue preparations at the Hasely Crawford Stadium ahead of the upcoming friendly international against Venezuela on March 9.
And coach Bertille St Clair was able to confirm the services of English-based goalkeeper Shaka Hislop for the match as he finalizes his team for the one match trip which is being staged in Merida to raise funds for those affected by flooding and other destruction caused by bad weather in recent times.
So far, Japan-based midfielder Silvio Spann and American-based midfielder Joel Bailey are the other overseas pros scheduled to join the team for the encounter.
I think its good to see that Shaka will be with us for this game because it is yet another game that falls into our preparations for the Guatemala match and others to follow. We were still hoping to get some of the other guys but at the same time we will be working with the home based pros that we have now and I expect that we will put on a good show against the Venezuelans, St Clair told TTFF Media.
T&T has also lined up a warm up against Honduras on March 22 leading up to the qualifier against the Guatemalans on March 26.
In related news, The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation at this time wishes to clear the air surrounding speculation over the status of former national captain Russell Latapy.
The TTFF advises that following discussions with the National Coach, Bertille St. Clair, the TTFF extended an invitation to Russell Latapy to join the senior national team as a player. The invitation was issued on behalf of the TTFF by TTFF's Special Advisor Mr. Jack Warner on Monday 28th February. After a brief discussion with Latapy, Mr. Warner was asked to call back later in the day. He did so but was unable to make any further contact. Since then, several calls have been made by Mr. Warner and messages have been left but there has been no response since from Latapy.
The TTFF continues to leave its door open for Russell Latapy and any other players who, in the opinion of the National Coach, have a positive role to play in this country's qualification for Germany 2006.