T&T senior men’s team will join host nation Thailand at the King’s Cup 2022 in Chiang Mai province, Thailand from September 22-25.
It will be an excellent opportunity to continue the process of getting the best team to represent T&T in the future, national coach Angus Eve has said.
His team is coming off a 2-1 loss to current Group C leaders Nicaragua, a 1-0 triumph over the Bahamas, as well as two victories over St Vincent and the Grenadines 2-0 and 4-1. They are second on the standings with nine points, needing to be the top team to advance out of the group. Leaders Nicaragua is on 10 points. Both teams have two more matches to play, including a clash against each other in March.
The T&T Football Association (TTFA) accepted an invitation from the Thailand FA this week to play in the four-nation tournament, which also includes Malaysia and Tajikistan. Matches will be played on September 22 and 25, within the FIFA Window and a draw will take place to determine the fixtures.
A release from the football association says it will be the third visit for the T&T team to Thailand for international friendlies. The team visited back in 2004 and 2018, where they lost to the hosts 3-2 and 1-0, respectively. Current head coach Eve was the captain of the 2004 squad under then head coach Bertille St Clair.
“In the last King’s Cup held in 2019, the Curacao team was invited to participate with the Vietnamese and Indian teams. In that tournament, Curacao won the championship with a victory over the Vietnamese team in the final,” the release said.
In a response to the fixtures, Eve said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for us to get two international fixtures away from home during the FIFA Window. Again, this is a continuation of our process towards getting the best possible team for the future, which includes not just the Gold Cup 2023 and the next phase of Nations League matches, but also the 2026 World Cup qualification.
“We are coming off a good run in the CONCACAF Nations League with three consecutive victories and we will be looking to build on this in these upcoming matches during the September window. I’d like to say thank you to the Thailand FA for reaching out to us to offer this invitation and to the Normalisation Committee and the TTFA for accepting and confirming all arrangements to ensure we are active in this upcoming FIFA Window.”