Finland head coach Mixu Paatelainen says he expects to get a decent work out from the T&T Soca Warriors in Sunday's friendly international at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo from 5 pm. Paatelainen, a former Finnish international and ex-teammate of Russell Latapy at Scottish club Hibernian, conducted two training sessions on Friday at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar and is looking forward to the encounter with high expectations of a good workout for his squad. "We're definitely looking forward to the match. We didn't just come here without thinking about our plans and of course our selection of opponent is based on quality. We know Trinidad and Tobago has strong, athletic and also quick players and they've been to a World Cup which is a great feat.So yes I'm looking forward to a good competitive match on Sunday," Paatelainen told said on Friday. He has included young Fulham goalkeeper Jesse Joronen in his team along with Swedish-based duo Kasper Hamalainen and Daniel Sjolund of Djurgardens IF, Riku Riski of Norway's Honefoss BK, Juha Hakola of Hungarian club Ferencvarosi TC and first call goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky of Danish club Esbjerg FB, Mikko Sumusalo of another Swedish club Malmo FF and Paulus Arajuuri of Kalmar FF (Sweden) as his overseas-based pros."We have a lot of good young players in the squad for Sunday including some local-based players and a few others from outside of Finland like places like Sweden and Norway. So far our preparations have gone pretty well. Obviously it's a lot hotter here than it is for us back at home but we're out here for our winter-break training and we'll be making the most of it," he added.
The ex-boss of Scottish club Kilmarnock is also bracing for two tough World Cup qualifying opponents later this year in Spain and France. "We've never been to a World Cup before but we have a good bunch of players who are willing to work hard and very eager to do well. That's encouraging for me and we'll prepare as best and work as hard as possible to get ready for those games. From Trinidad we'll head off for another friendly against Austria. Generally we want to be as strong as possible in these friendlies starting with the one on Sunday versus Trinidad," Paatelainen added. T&T meantime, trained on Friday morning coaches Hutson Charles and Angus Eve will conduct another session on Saturday morning at Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, where tickets will be sold on matchday at $40 (uncovered) and $100 (covered). Experienced W Connection midfielder Clyde Leon is pledging a disciplined performance from the T&T team. "We know this is a friendly international and once you play teams like these from Europe then you are sure they will not be easy to play. At the same time we don't intend to be pushed over easily. We know we are in a rebuilding phase and the coaches are looking at different players but we as players also know how important it is to perform well and get a good result on the day," Leon added. The T&T Under 23 team, meantime, will commence a training camp in Tobago from tomorrow for their match against Finland at the Dwight Yorke Stadium on Wednesday from 6 pm.
U-23 squad
Jabloteh: Sheldon Bateau, Leslie Russell.
Caledonia AIA: Jamaal Gay, Trevin Caesar, Aquil Selby, Micah Lewis, Zane Coker, Nuru Abdullah Mohammad.
St Ann's Rangers: Kareem Moses, Cameron Roget.
W Connection: Mekeil Williams, Jomal Williams, Andre Quashie.
T&TEC: Jayson Joseph.
North East Stars: Jeromie Williams, Kaydion Gabriel, Andre Marchan, Jean Luc Rochford, Earl Joseph.
Defence Force: Sheldon Clarke, Curtis Gonzales, Fitzbert Alleyne.
WASA: Marcus Chandoor.
Overseas Based: Kevin Molino, Qian Grosvenor, Stephan Berkeley, Bradley Welsh, Michael Roopchansingh, Andre Quashie.