TT U-15 footballers face Costa Rica in Concacaf opener

TRINIDAD AND Tobago Under-15 football team will face Costa Rica in their opening match at the Concacaf Under-15 Championship at the IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida, United States today from 9 am (TT time).

TT have been shifted to Group D of the Championship alongside Costa Rica, Portugal and Barbados, after Jamaica made a late withdrawal from the tournament.

The TT team arrived in Florida on Friday night. The Stuart Charles-Fevrier coached team will face Barbados at 11 am tomorrow and Portugal on Wednesday at 9 am.

Regarding the shift of TT to Group D, Charles-Fevrier said, “I welcome the challenge because we must play top teams from all over and those three teams are formidable in their respective regions.”

Portugal are ranked in the top five in Europe and the TT coach is eager to face a top-flight team.

“We have to play the top teams ahead of the competition which matters, which is the qualification tournament for the 2021 FIFA Under-17 World Cup. This is my focus for this team, so leading up to that, if we get opportunities to face these highly respected teams we will grab at the chance.”

The TT team hosted the TTFA (TT Football Association) Invitational Tournament last month, but TT were beaten in all three games – 5-4 to Panama, 4-0 to Venezuela and 4-1 to Mexico.

Charles-Fevrier noted, “Although (the) result matter, we can’t only focus on that, this is about development and we played some unfamiliar opposition who came highly rated and we saw why in the tournament. In order for us to improve this must continue that is why I am so delighted for this new grouping.”