Trinidad and Tobago's Olympic footballers will round up preparation for the final Caribbean round of 2012 Olympic qualifying when they enter a one-week living camp in Tobago from today until November 20, prior to their departure to St. Kitts and Nevis.
The final round of Caribbean qualifying, takes place from November 24-28 in Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis and will be contested between T&T, Suriname, Cuba and the hosts.
The one-week Tobago camp will give coach Angus Eve a final chance to look at players before choosing his final squad.
T&T have never qualified for an Olympic football tournament. However, Eve has a team made up mainly of players who have played at the 2007 and 2009 FIFA Youth World Cups. The T&T squad is also coming off a good showing in Mexico at the 2011 Pan American Games where they held Mexico, Uruguay and Ecuador to 1-1 draws. Mexico won the Pan Am tournament, beating Argentina 1-0 in the final, while Uruguay edged Costa Rica 2-1 for third spot.
T&T finished fifth ahead of Brazil (sixth), Ecuador (seventh) and Cuba (eighth). It is felt that the current T&T team has a good chance at qualifying for the Olympics for the first time.
In Tobago, Eve's squad will train and will also play warm-up matches against Super League runners-up Stokely Vale and a TTFF development team.
Meanwhile, last Wednesday CONCACAF announced the USA as hosts of the eight-nation final round tournament which will consist of two four-team groups, with the top two finishers from each group advancing to the semi-finals. The semi-final winners will advance to the tournament final and book their tickets to London. Already qualified are Mexico, the United States, Canada, El Salvador, Panama and Honduras, who will be joined by two Caribbean qualifiers.
One of the four-team groups will play its games at Nashville's LP Field, home to the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League, while the other group will play at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The semi-finals and final will take place at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, which opened in June of this year and is home to Major League Soccer's Sporting Kansas City.
The tournament will kick off in Nashville with a doubleheader on March 22, followed by two more doubleheader match days on March 24 and 26. The semi-finals will be played in Kansas City on March 31, with the final taking place on April 2.
Training schedule for the
National U-23s in Tobago:
Today - November 14, 2011
Training - 9:30 am - 11:30 am
Training - 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Tuesday - November 15, 2011
Training (Gym) - 9:30 am - 11:30 am
Training - 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Wednesday - November 16, 2011
Match - vs Stokely Vale - 6 pm at Dwight Yorke Stadium
Thursday - November 17, 2011
Training (Gym & Pool) - 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Training - 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Friday - November 18, 2011
Match - vs TTFF Development Team - 5 pm at Dwight Yorke Stadium
Saturday - November 19, 2011
Boat Ride - 10:00 am
Sunday - November 20, 2011
Training - 8:00 am - 9:30 am
Team selection for St Kitts
By Ian Prescott
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com