The T&T teenage footballers will leave Piarco International Airport today for Florida in the United States to participate in the CONCACAF Under-17 Men's Championships Qualification Tournament. T&T will kick-off its campaign against Bermuda on May 1, at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
The team led by former World Cup players in Stern John as head coach and assistant Kenwyne Jones, have been preparing team for the past few weeks.
On Friday, the technical staff named a 20-man squad to challenge for honours. After the Bermuda match, T&T will then face Jamaica on May 3rd and Mexico two days later. The top three teams will advance to the knockout stage.
“I am very excited about our upcoming tournament. The guys took the training very well. We had to get in everything in a very short space of time. The guys took it all on board and relishing the opportunity. The guys are excited and I am excited to go there and compete. We want to go there and try to qualify for the second round firstly. I think our main goal is to win our first game which is important. I think once we do that then we have a very good chance of qualifying for the knockout phase,” John said.
The 2019 CONCACAF U-17 Championship will be the 6th edition of the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship (19th edition if all eras included), the men’s under-17 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It will be hosted in the United States between 1 May and 16 May 2019. The top four teams will qualify for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil as CONCACAF representatives. Mexico is the defending champions.
The format for qualification has changed since the 2017 edition. The qualifying competition no longer features the Caribbean and Central American zones.
The 41 CONCACAF teams were ranked based on the CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Ranking as of May 2017. A total of 35 teams entered the tournament. The highest-ranked 16 entrants were exempt from qualifying and advanced directly to the group stage of the final tournament, while the lowest-ranked 19 entrants had to participate in qualifying, where the four group winners advanced to the round of 16 of the knockout stage of the final tournament.
(T&T Under-17 team)
Goalkeepers: Isaiah Williams (W Connection FC/Presentation College, San F’do), Kahlil Oliver (San Juan Jabloteh/Trinity College East);
Defenders: Nigel Carraby (W Connection FC/Presentation College, San F’do), Luke Savery (W Connection FC/St Mary’s College), Jordon Britto (San Juan Jabloteh/San Juan North Secondary), Cephas St Rose (W Connection FC/CTS College),
Isa Sayeed (Indy Premier Soccer/ Hamilton South-Eastern High School—USA);
Midfielders: Zachary Welch (North East Stars/Fatima College), Jaiye Sheppard (Unattached/Presentation College, San F’do), Tyrese Pierre (WSV Apeldoorn/Rivers International School—Netherlands), Andrew De Gannes (North East Stars/Fatima College), Curtis De Leon (North Carolina FC/ Leesville Road High School—USA), Gary Griffith III (North East Stars/Trinity College Moka), Jeremy Lashley (Internazionale of Edmonton/ Archbishop O’Leary Catholic High School—Canada), Kielon Burnett-Acevaro (W Connection FC/Carapichaima East Secondary), Kevan Kahoussi (NC Fusion/Crossroads Flex High School—USA), Ajani Fortune (Atlanta United/Mc Eachern High School—USA);
Forwards: Justin Araujo-Wilson (San Juan Jabloteh/Virtual High School—Canada), Jean-Heim Mc Fee (Club Sando/Fatima College), Jerrell Nixon (Concorde Fire Soccer Club/Campbell High School—USA).