Caribbean Football Union Club Championship winners, Caledonia AIA and Defence Force will begin their quest for places in next season's Concacaf Champions League when they contest their respect group qualifiers from Friday until Tuesday.The pair will head separate routes as they seek to qualify for the 2014/2015 competition.Caledonia left yesterday for Haiti to face Sportive de Mirebalais on Friday, Jamaica's Waterhouse FC (Sunday) and Suriname's Inter Moengotapoe (Tuesday) in Group Two while Defence Force leaves for Jamaica today, for its Group Three matches against Guyana's Alpha United (Friday), Suriname's Sporting Vereniging Notch (Sunday), and home-team Harbour View (Tuesday).Harbour View, Caribbean winners in 2004 and 2007, are the reigning Red Stripe Premier League champions, and second in this season's title.
Group One will be contested in Puerto Rico, with Centro Dominguito of the Netherlands Antilles, Unite Saint Rosienne of Curacao, Cayman Islands outfit Bodden Town and home team Bayamon FC making up that group.The winner of each group will advance to the semi-final round–expected to be contested in April–joining automatic berth, Valencia FC of Haiti.Caledonia AIA coach Jamaal Shabazz is taking things one step at a time towards qualifying for a third consecutive time, although being without three key players–defender Aubrey David, midfielder Akim Armstrong and striker Jamal Gay.
David, 23, recently signed a one-season loan move to Finnish Premier League outfit FF Jaro, while Armstrong and Gay, on trials in Finland, are hoping to secure European moves."They are three starting players that could make a big difference," said Shabaaz, who leads the Morvant/Laventille club into its fourth consecutive Caribbean Club Championship."But this is football. And as players move on, other players are willing to step up and take this opportunity to claim for themselves. They (Gay, Armstrong and Gay) have been replaced with three youngsters in Nical Stephens, Kyle Bartholomew and Jameel Neptune.Caledonia, presently occupies seventh position on the Digicel Pro League standings with just 21 points from 17 games, 16 points behind leaders W Connection and have little chance of a top two finish to qualify for next year's CFU qualifiers.
Shabazz's 20-man travelling squad, included goalkeepers Shemel Louison and Kevin Graham; defenders Nuru Abdullah Muhammad, Kareem Joseph, Akeem Thomas, Marcus Ambrose, NoelWilliams and Raymond Alleyne; midfielders Stephan David, Tyrone Charles, Ralph Lundy, Densill Theobald, Jameel Neptune, Nathan Lewis, Keron Bethelmy, Kyle Bartholomew, Nical Stephens and Purnell Schultz; and forwards Julian Wade and Keyon Edwards.Defence Force will face a familiar foe in Alpha United, who defeated the T&T club 4-3 on penalties in the 2011 third-place playoff after a 1-1 draw.And despite recent major set-backs, due to the murder of former player Rawle Fletcher in December, a month self-imposed suspension from all sporting activities in January, and passing of winger Kevon Carter, who died of a heart attack on February 28, Defence Force are ready to soldier-on.
"We will reach our own in Jamaica," assured head coach Ross Russell.Defence Force, with three matches in hand, currently occupies fifth position on the Pro League standings with 26 points from 15 matches, and are 11 points away from table-topping W Connection which has played two matches more."The guys want to work hard," added Russell. "They want to play and make T&T proud."We are equipped to go past the group stage but we will only know better when we get there. We don't know what to expect, although I know a bit about Alpha United and I think they are beatable. I saw Vereniging Notch train while we were in Suriname and they are a decent team. Harbour View are no strangers to me. I think we are equipped to do the job."Russell was expected to name his 20-man squad yesterday.