Former T&T Under-17 coach Shawn Cooper is confident the country's Under-20 team will advance to the Caribbean Football Union Final Round in October by way of progressing past their first round qualifiers, starting Wednesday at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.
The Under-20s open their campaign against Guadeloupe in the feature game of a double header at 7.30pm. Cooper, the Queen's Park coach, had the opportunity to watch the team in action during a practice match against his team at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella as they went down 1-2.
However, he said he was impressed with what he saw. "I was pleased with the intensity of the youth team. Normally we are a bit laid back, but I thought that Queen's Park gave them the type of game to help them get to the next level," Cooper said.
"Being a former national coach, I prepared the Parkites in a way that they would the U-20s a proper training game before going off to their CFU games. The only thing I can criticise the u-20s for, which I am sure the coaches will address, is their finishing but other than that, I am pretty pleased with what I have seen of them. I think some of the senior players who have played international football before should lead the team from the front," Cooper added.
"The progress is there but still slow because the pace is a bit off with the local competition from that off the international competition. You tend to find that players are a bit lackadaisical when they face local teams because there is not that push to get them to a next level. But I can see this team getting out of the group. Players such as Noah Powder and others from the last Under 17 team will bring some quality. We cannot take any team for granted but from what I have seen of the team so far, I can say that they will get through this round and then look to advance from the final CFU stage towards Concacaf," Cooper concluded.
The T&T team will enter a live-in training camp at the Metro Hotel, Couva tomorrow ahead of the opening game. Turks and Caicos Islands will face St Lucia from 5pm in the earlier match. Tickets costs $20 (covered) and $10 (uncovered) and will be on sale at the Stadium on game day.
The T&T Team is attempting to qualify for the CFU Final Round in Curacao in October which leads to the Concacaf Final Round in Costa Rica next year. The 2017 Fifa Under 20 World Cup will be staged in South Korea.