... play T&T in opener of CONCACAF Under 20 Championships

MARC STAMP, STAR Writer

JAMAICA will tackle Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) in the opening round of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Under-20 Championship at the National Stadium today, starting at 8 p.m.

The Caribbean nations will engage in the featured game of a triple header. In the first game, Aruba face Panama at 3 p.m. and in the second encounter, the United States meet Guatemala, at 5:30 p.m.

The six teams are drawn in Group A. Twelve teams are down to participate. Group B comprises Mexico, Cuba, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, and Canada.

The tournament will crown the Confederation champion at this age level, and qualify four teams to the 2015 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand. The top team from each group after round-robin play, advances to the World Cup, while the second and third-place nations from each group advance to the final day knockout phase, with a chance to dispute two play-in matches, which will determine the two other World Cup spots.

Montego Bay Sports Complex will be the venue for all Group B games and the final phase on January 24.

Tough opponent

Coach of Jamaica's team, Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore, says his team is looking forward to a win against their fierce Caribbean rivals.

"We are looking forward to this clash as Trinidad and Tobago has always been a tough opponent for Jamaica at any level in football," he told STAR Sports yesterday.

With regards to Jamaica's chance of winning a place to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, Whitmore responded: "We will take it game by game; we plan to win the game tomorrow, and take it from there."

"We are definitely looking to win the game against Trinidad and Tobago and get the national behind the team early," he said.

Jamaica did not have a good preparation coming into the championship as they won only once in five international warm-up games. They played as a guest team in the Under-20 Central America Championship last month, losing all three matches.

In two games against Cuba, Jamaica won the first encounter 2-0 at Waterhouse Stadium last Saturday night, and the other game ended in a 1-1 draw two days later at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.

Improvement

Since then, the 20-man squad has been involved in intense training, and Whitmore says "we have seen improvement on the training ground in terms of players understanding the roles."

Derek King, who guided T&T to a 3-0 win over Haiti in the final of the Caribbean Under-20 championship last year, is oozing confidence ahead of the opening game against Jamaica.

"We are coming from a seven-day camp in Florida, and it was a welcome one. We needed the preparation," King informed STAR Sports yesterday, after arriving on Wednesday night.

"The team played two games in Florida and lost both. We did not get the result that we wanted, but the camp was good for the players ahead of the game against Jamaica," King said.

Captain of T&T, Shannon Gomez, did not make the trip to Florida due to visa issues, but has joined the other players here.

"We have players such as Gomez, Lelander Archer, Duane Muckette, Brendon Creed, and Ricardo John to add experience to the squad. These players will definitely add some quality to what we already have," King added.