Sports

Roneil Walcott

3 Hrs Ago

TT Under-17 player Adasa Richardson, second from right, alongside other teammates during a recent training session at the Ato Boldon Stadium training field in Couva. – TTFA MEDIA

Trinidad and Tobago’s Under-17 men’s football team coach Randolph Boyce has named a 23-man squad which will face Peru’s Under-17 national team in two friendlies in Lima, Peru on January 28 and 30 as preparation continues towards the 2026 Concacaf Under-17 Qualifiers which will be held from February 3-12. The team was announced on January 15.

TT will host Group A which features Barbados, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten and favourites Mexico, with matches to be held at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo. The qualifiers consist of eight groups, with the eight group winners qualifying automatically to the Fifa Under-17 Men’s World Cup which will be held in Qatar in November.

Boyce’s squad includes two overseas-based players in goalkeeper Levi Williams (Inter Miami) and Jamaican-based Akel Vesprey, with the majority of the squad made up of players who have shone in the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL). The team includes players such as Fatima College flankers Jeremai Nanton and Reagan Rowe, St Mary’s College playmaker Finn De Freitas, impressive St Anthony’s College centre back Adriel Faure, San Juan North Secondary central midfielder Daniel Lewis, Queen’s Royal College winger Jasai Theophilus and Naparima College players such as goalkeeper Mikhail Clement, attacker Adasa Richardson, and defenders Antonio Hills and Sebastian James.

Speaking to TT Football Association (TTFA) media, Boyce said preparations have been going well, although he reckons there’s still fine-tuning to be done ahead of the team’s first qualifier against Barbados on February 3.

“The boys have been putting in the work and they’re listening to detail. We still want them to be a little more meticulous in terms of application and stuff we would want done. It takes a little time, and we believe in three weeks’ time we will get it done,” Boyce said.

“I think they are a learning bunch. They’re like sponge. They’re kinda soaking it up, and they want to learn. That’s the most important thing with this age group in terms of them wanting to learn and in terms of their application. Obviously, I would have liked a little more maturity in terms of execution. But again, we hope repetition would take care of that in terms of the reps we have been giving them in doing it over and over and over. We’re seeing the benefits of it. We would have wanted it to come a little faster, but we hope we have the time to get it done.”

The St Benedict’s College coach welcomed the Peru friendlies and thanked the TTFA for organising them.

“What we have been doing mostly is playing above the age group, so this will serve us well, playing against an Under-17 team, and seeing how they approach it,” he said. “(We want to see) if they will be more aggressive or more patient, or more disciplined in terms of the four moments of the game, where we’d like them to apply certain things we ask of them.”

TT men’s under-17 team for Peru friendlies:

Goalkeepers: Mikhail Clement, Necose Moore, Levi Williams.

Defenders: Jeremiah Daniel, Adriel Faure, Antonio Hills, Sebastian James, Kenai Richardson, Jaylon Roberts, Reagan Rowe, Akel Vesprey.

Midfielders: Finn De Freitas, Donavon Drayton, Jaylon Forbes, Daniel Lewis, Antuan Lousion, Jeremai Nanton, Jelani Stoute, Jasai Theophilus.

Forwards: Kanye Glasgow, Nadeem Grant, Adasa Richardson, J’Meke Watkins.