Corneal: Jamaica ideal warm-up for TT

TRINIDAD and Tobago’s warm-up match against Jamaica on Thursday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo is the ideal preparation for their later clash with Honduras in their 2018 World Cup qualifier.

This is the view expressed by newly installed Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) technical director Anton Corneal.

Corneal said the Jamaicans will be a fitting test for the TT team.

He said, “I think ideally, this (against Jamaica) is the right type of game that we need now.”

He noted that Jamaica are coming off exceptional performances at the recent Gold Cup in the United States where they reached the final only to be beaten 2-1 by the USA.

He believes the game will be very competitive because of the rivalry between the two countries.

While the Caribbean derby will be the focus this week, Corneal stressed that the real matches of importance would be Honduras on September 1 and Panama four days later.

“Of course it is important to get a result against Honduras as they will be pushing for a result here also which possibly means it will give us a chance to exploit them in areas that may be opened up. It is the first game of the two qualifiers and a result here will give us that chance to keep fighting heading into Panama,” Corneal added.

TT coach Dennis Lawrence is stepping up his preparations for the World Cup qualifiers and welcomed Cordell Cato into his squad at the weekend and he went straight into training yesterday. Lawrence is expected to name his final squad today, following a training session at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Arima.

Corneal said it is of course important to get a result against the Hondurans.

Meanwhile the unsuccessful under-15 team under coach Russell Latapy returned home from the CONCACAF Championship in Florida, USA.