Trinidad and Tobago footballers set to face Guadeloupe today

TRINIDAD AND Tobago football team will face Guadeloupe in a friendly international this evening, from eight o’clock, at Stade Rene Serge Nabajoth, Les Abymes.

This is the first game for 2018 for the Dennis Lawrence-coached TT team, and will feature a number of players who were involved in the unsuccessful 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying stage.

Veteran midfielder Khaleem Hyland, speaking in a media interview last Saturday, commented, “It’s a great opportunity to get games on FIFA dates because it will only help us get better as a team.”

Hyland is one of nine foreign-based players on the TT outfit.

“I have a big part to play,” he said. “Hopefully we can gel together and play together as a team.”

Asked about the failure of the national team to book a ticket to this year’s World Cup in Russia, Hyland said, “Every time you go into a game, you have to take it at a serious level. We are disappointed that we didn’t qualify for the World Cup but that happens in life, and we just have to keep on moving on.”

Defence Force winger Reon Moore is the only new face on the 20-man team who will also meet Martinique on Sunday.

“It’s a great feeling to make the national team,” he said. “Hopefully it will be a great experience for me.”

Moore added, “It’s a learning process for me. I’m just willing to take all the information and look forward to remain on the team.”