President of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association Raymond Tim Kee believes the recent outing to Europe by the National Senior Men's Team was indeed beneficial to the team's preparations for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and beyond.
T&T lost its two friendlies to Romania (4-0) and Estonia (1-0) but Tim Kee was adamant that there was a lot more positives derived from the ten-day trip.
When the team arrived in Bucharest on June 2nd, it was the first on European soil for the Senior Team since the 2006 World Cup campaign during which T&T prepared for the Finals with training camps in England and Austria, including international friendlies against Czech Republic, Slovenia and Wales.
"Of course the reports will show that we lost both matches to Romania and Estonia," Tim Kee told TTFA Media.
"But the tour was significant in more ways than one. It presented us with the opportunity to establish new ties with other member associations that have rich footballing histories, that have some of the best facilities that were made available to our team and their knowledge of and passion for the game is rather impressive. We held meetings with their Presidents and other officials with the aim of having a better understanding of their organization structure and other areas such as player and coach development and administrative roles and functions among other things. On this trip alone our management staff was privy to work in conditions and with personnel that could only be of added benefit to them.
"Our football will not be confined to CONCACAF and trips like this recent one also allows our players to experience the environment in playing in conditions that they are not accustomed to every week in terms of climate, travels and of course the opportunity to train and play in state of the art facilities is always a benefit," Tim Kee continued.
The sounds of Steelpan,Calypso and Soca were also shared and heard for the first time by many in Bucharest and Tallinn wherever the team had an appearance.
He went on to say that events involving this country and international teams out of Europe become possible through ongoing communication with Match Agents that are based in Europe and South America and several meetings with this in mind were held in Bucharest, Tallinn and during the recent FIFA Congress in Mauritius
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association is also today expressing its deep gratitude to the Government and the Ministry of Sports for its generous support towards the National Football Teams.
Over the past few months, with the TTFA faced with several financial challenges, the local governing body, led by President Tim Kee, has been forced to rely on the support of the Ministry of Sports to ensure that National Teams participated in a series of international competitions and events.
Top of the list has been the National Senior Men's Team which commenced qualification for the CONCACAF Gold Cup last October in St Kitt's Nevis. The team subsequently made it to the final of the Caribbean Cup in Antigua in December and qualified for the region's showcase event, the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States next month. Additionally, the Senior Team has played five international friendlies since February and the Ministry has financially supported these outings on request from the TTFA. The National Team's Participation at the CONCACAF Beach Soccer qualifiers in Bahamas last month was also supported by the Sports Ministry.
"At this point, I don't think enough can be said about the invaluable support we've received from the Government and the Ministry of Sport over the past several months for our National Teams which has allowed us to continue our participation and maintain a presence on the international stage," Tim Kee said.
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