U-20 Soca Warriors aim to sharpen finishing in Jamaica friendlies

From this Thursday, TT under-20 men's football team coach Brian Haynes will get a fair idea of his team's progress, when the young Soca Warriors play Jamaica's under-20 team in the first of three friendly matches within a week.

On Sunday, a release from the TT Football Association (TTFA) confirmed the matches, with the other two fixtures to be played on January 28 and February 1. Up to press time, the venues and start times for the matches had not been disclosed by the TTFA.

Haynes is currently overseeing a 30-man training squad for TT, who will play Canada, Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) in group D of the Concacaf Under-20 qualifiers from February 23. TT will play all their group matches at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.

On the friendly matches against Jamaica, Haynes said, "They are going to be games against a team from the Caribbean first of all with the kind of play that we are accustomed to.

"At the same time, they are quality games and we are going to have to come with our best effort to show (Jamaica) that we can play – not only play – but to win. That is what is going to bring the crowds to the stadium."

Haynes expects a fierce fight from TT's Caribbean rivals, and he said Jamaica are the perfect opponent for TT at this time.

"I have seen improvements in the defending, into the midfield and when we go forward. All those are things that we still need to sharpen up."

Haynes said his team "have not been good on finishing" and they will get the chance to put that to the test against the Jamaicans.

After round-robin play in the qualifiers, the six group winners will advance to the 2024 Concacaf under-20 championship, joining the six top-ranked nations: Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and the US.