Soca Warriors coach Hutson Charles and his 20-man squad will leave today for St Kitts/Nevis where they will compete in the four-team Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Cup Group Five first round qualifiers from Wednesday until Sunday.
The 20-man squad, comprising six players from the national Under-23 squad, held its final training session yesterday at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar where it went under to Digicel T&T Pro League champions, DirecTV W Connection 1-0 in a practice match.
The Soca Warriors, eight-time Caribbean champions who will be led by W Connection goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams, begin their attempt to qualify for the CFU Cup finals against French Guyana on Wednesday, in the opening match of a double-header at Warner Park Stadium, Basseterre, from 5pm.
T&T, which last won the title in 2001 and was eliminated in the group stage of the 2008 and 2010 finals, also faces Anguilla on Friday followed by host St Kitts/Nevis on Sunday from which only the group winner will advance to the next round.
The Soca Warriors enjoy an impressive finals record at home, having won five finals played in T&T in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2001 before losing in 2007 against Haiti while it has also won in 1989, 1995 and 1997.
Jamaica has won the title six times (1991, 1998, 2005, 2008 and 2010) and Martinique, the only other country to lift the CFU crown, in 1993.
Group Two will open on October 21 with Guyana against St Vincent & the Grenadines, and host St Lucia against Curacao at Warner Park in Gros Islet, St Lucia.
The winners from each of the five groups along with the runners-up from Groups One to Three will advance to the second round, while the best runner-up from either Group Four or Group Five also will advance.
The second round will comprise three groups of four teams with Grenada, Guadeloupe and Cuba seeded in one of the groups.
The top two teams from each second-round group will advance to the finals December 3-16 in Antigua & Barbuda with the host nation and two-time defending champion Jamaica. Four teams will qualify for next year's Concacaf Gold Cup. Already through to the next round are Group One winner Haiti and runner-up Puerto Rico as well as Martinique and Suriname.
Soca Warriors squad:
Goalkeepers: Marvin Phillips (Central FC), Jan Michael Williams (W Connection)
Defenders: Daneil Cyrus (W Connection, Joevin Jones (W Connection), Curtis Gonzales (Defence Force) Carlyle Mitchell (Vancouver Whitecaps), Robert Primus (FC Aktobe), Kareem Moses (North East Stars) Seon Power (North East Stars)
Midfielders: Hughtun Hector (Song Lam Nghe), Densill Theobald (Caledonia AIA), Clyde Leon (W Connection), Kevon Carter (Defence Force), Kevon Neaves (T&TEC), Sylvester Teasdale (T&TEC), Keon Daniel (Philadelphia Union)
Strikers: Willis Plaza (Song Lam Nghe), Richard Roy (Defence Force), Devorn Jorsling (Defence Force) and Jamal Gay (Caledonia AIA).
Technical staff: Hutson Charles (coach), Derek King (assistant coach), Jefferson George (goalkeeper coach), Dave Isaac (physiotherapist/trainer), Michael Williams (equipment manager), Shaun Fuentes (press officer), William Wallace (manager)
CFU Caribbean Cup First Round
Group 5
At Basseterre, St Kitts
Wednesday
French Guyana vs T&T, 5 pm
St Kitts & Nevis vs Anguilla, 7 pm
Friday
Anguilla vs T&T, 5 pm
St Kitts & Nevis vs French Guyana, 7 pm
Sunday
French Guyana vs Anguilla, 5 pm
St Kitts & Nevis vs T&T, 7 pm.