Having qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League for a second straight season, Trinidad and Tobago football clubs W Connection and Caledonia AIA got contrasting draws for the 2013-14 edition of the tournament when the draw was held at the Intercontinental Hotel, Doral, Miami, Florida, USA on Saturday.
Connection were elated to be grouped with the Houston Dynamos of Major League Soccer and Panama’s Arabe Unida, while in the Caledonia camp, the mood was a bit more subdued after the Morvant/Laventille club was drawn with Mexican powerhouses Toluca and CSD Comunicaciones of Guatemala.
Matches in the CONCACAF Champions League begin on August 6.
Despite the tough competition ahead, AIA general manager Ricarda Nelson was confident her club could advance from the group stage.
She stated that the valuable experience gained in the 2012/2013 edition of the CCL will go a long way in preparing the Pro League runners-up for what is to come both on and off the field.
Her main concern was the altitude at the Toluca stadium which is 8,793 feet above sea level. But she expressed confidence in the ability of technical director Jamaal Shabazz and coach Jerry Moe in planning for the match in Mexico.
W Connection’s president David John Williams and technical director Stuart Charles Fervier are happy that they avoided Mexico teams for the first time in their CCL history, but are wary of the MLS Cup runners-up and the Panamanians who are unknown elements to the Savonetta club.