Two unbeaten teams, T&T and Haiti, will battle for Caribbean supremacy when they clash in the final of the CFU Under-20 Championships, tonight, at Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port-of-Spain, from 7.30 pm.
Both teams topped their groups to advance directly to the final, while the two second placed teams, Cuba and Aruba, made it to the third-place playoff, which opens the double-header from 5 pm.
More importantly, the four teams in action today also booked their spots in January's Concacaf Under-20 Championships, which is ultimately the confederation's final round of qualifiers for the 2015 Fifa Under-20 World Cup. A nearly full strength line-up is expected tonight from coach Derek King, who utilized 19 of the 20 squad players in the previous three matches. Midfielder Kevon Goddard, however, will not take part as he recovers from the flu.
While the host team was heralded by some, even in opposition camps as the "team to beat" and "number one side", T&T's route to the final was not always easy.
The young "Warriors" opened their campaign with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Suriname, last Friday, in an untidy affair.
The winner came as late as the 78th minute through substitute Jabari Mitchell, following an equalizing goal in the 27th minute from an Andre Fortune penalty.
T&T seemingly found momentum in the second fixture, which ended 4-0 in its favour over Curacao with Kadeem Corbin (two goals), Mitchell and Aikim Andrews on target.
In the third and final Group A match, T&T, needing only a draw to advance to the final, got the job done with a one-all stalemate against Cuba, thanks to an 88th minute equalizer from Josiah Trimmingham, whose header connected with a free kick from Fortune.
Haiti's route to the final started with a 2-1 win over the Dominican Republic on Saturday, followed by a 2-1 win over Aruba and finally a 5-2 win over St Kitts and Nevis, on Wednesday.
T&T Squad
Johan Welch, Javon Sample, Shannon Gomez, Martieon Watson, Jesus Perez, Maurice Ford, Kevon Goddard, Akeem Garcia, Neveal Hackshaw, Kadeem Corbin, Andre Fortune, Levi Garcia, Kishun Seecharan, Josiah Trimmingham, Matthew Woo Ling, Aikim Andrews, Kion Joseph, Akeem Humphrey, Jabari Mitchell, Nicholas Dillon.