T&T’s senior men’s team entered official CONCACAF competition time and territory on Sunday, two days ahead of Tuesday’s CONCACAF Gold Cup 2019 opener against Panama at the Allianz Field in Minnesota, USA.
Head coach Dennis Lawrence oversaw an afternoon training session at the Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium as the team settled back at the team hotel for the remainder of the day. The team contingent took part in CONCACAF Team Arrival meetings and passport checks. The official training will take place at the game venue on Monday evening while Lawrence will also attend the official Pre-match press conference along with a player.
“The mood is quite good and everyone is staying switched on in terms of our focus and mission for the opening match on Tuesday,” team skipper Khaleem Hyland told TTFA Media.
He said, “We’ve had some good, solid sessions including today’s one and the vibe and focus are up at the moment. It’s now about being mentally ready, taking care of what we need to in terms of preparation and going into the game knowing what we are here for.”
Israel-based winger Levi Garcia is also anticipating his first Gold Cup appearance. “It’s a huge moment for me as a young player and someone who has never been to the Gold Cup before. But all in all, I think all the players know how major this is for us. We want to make a big impression and to do that we need to play well and get good results. We are going to give it everything and hopefully we’ll make a strong start in our first game against Panama,” Garcia said.
The T&T team has a used facility which has some interesting history to it. Thanks to a generous gift of US$900,000 from Deborah Olson, given in the name of her mother Elizabeth Lyle Robbie, and $1.2 million appropriated from the Minnesota state legislature, the University of Minnesota football programme built a home of its own in the Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium.