T&T's Soca Warriors will face its first test since its premature elimination from the 2014 World Cup qualification campaign, against Finland's "Eagles-Owls" in a friendly match at the Hasely Crawford Stadium Mucurapo, from 5 pm this afternoon. Led by interim coach Hutson Charles, who took over for former headman Otto Pfister, T&T will be hoping to open 2012 in winning ways against a less-than full-strength team in its European opposition. Regular players in Marvin Phillip, Hayden Tinto, Carlyle Mitchell, Seon Power, Clyde Leon, Kendall Jagdeosingh and Atuallah Guerra are in the squad. Caledonia AIA's Devorn Jorsling who has 13 goals in 25 appearances has also been included for the friendly encounter, along with nimble National Under-23 midfielder Sean De Silva. Finland, headed by Mixu Paatelainen, a former team-mate of Russell Latapy at Scottish club Hibernian, will use the opportunity to prepare for bigger opposition in France and Spain which they will be meeting in World Cup qualifiers later on in the year.
The Finnish team, which is placed at 85 in the FIFA rankings, fell 2-1 at the feet of Sweden, in its last international encounter back in October. Finland has never taken part in a World Cup or a European Championship. Comprising of several sizeable defenders players, the opposition team's squad will include young Fulham goalkeeper Jesse Joronen along with several Swedish and Norwegian based professionals, which few or no international caps under their belts. Midfielder Kasper Hamalainen who plays for Swedish club Djurgården, is included in the squad. With 20 caps, he scored on five occasions, the most of any of the players included. Tickets for the match are priced at $40 (uncovered) and $100 (covered). T&T's Olympic team will take on the same opposition on Wednesday at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Tobago.
T&T Team:Goalkeepers- Marvin Phillip, Akini Adams. Defenders- Aubrey David, Akeem Adams, Seon Power, Joevin Jones, Leslie Russel, Aquil Selby, Carlyle Mitchell. Midfielders- Kerlon Ferguson, Kendall Jagdeosingh, Clyde Leon, Ataullah Guerra, Jean Luc Rochford, Hayden Tinto, Sean De Silva. Forwards- Willis Plaza, Richard Roy, Devorn Jorsling, Darryl Roberts.
Finland Team:Goalkeepers- Lukas Hradecky, Jesse Joronen Defenders- Joona Toivio, Mikko Sumusalo, Markus Halsti, Paulus Arajuuri, Joni Aho, Hannu Patronen. Midfielders- Ilari Äijälä, Sebastian Sorsa, Joni Kauko, Juha Hakola, Toni Kolehmainen, Kasper Hämäläinen, Daniel Sjölund, Sebastian Mannström, Riku Riski. Forwards- Berat Sadik, Akseli Pelvas, Mika Ääritalo.