Lawrence names 17 players for US camp

Lawrence completed a five-day training camp yesterday morning at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva before selecting the 17 players to head to the US. The final squad for the World Cup qualifier, including the overseas-based players, will be announced in early June.

The players arriving in Denver on Tuesday night include Jan Michael Williams, Marvin Phillip, Adrian Foncette (goalkeepers); Daneil Cyrus, Alvin Jones, Curtis Gonzales, Triston Hodge, Carlos Edwards (defenders); Leston Paul, Nathan Lewis, Hashim Arcia, Hughtun Hector, Jomal Williams (midfielders); Jamille Boatswain, Akeem Roach, Willis Plaza and Shahdon Winchester (strikers).

Also joining the squad later this week are midfielders Khaleem Hyland and Levi Garcia, as well as central defender Sheldon Bateau.

“We’ve got the two games against the US and Costa Rica, so the idea has been to prepare the boys in the best possible way,” said Lawrence, in an interview on the TT Football Association (TT FA) website. “We have had five sessions at home with a group of players who have been able to help us start the preparations. The idea is to get there (Denver) and try to acclimatise as quick as possible so we will be starting work there immediately.

“Seventeen players will be travelling on Tuesday. Some will be coming back because the final squad has not been selected as yet.We expect to have the full contingent on June 4th.” Lawrence continued, “we’ve arranged two closed-door games.

We will play Colorado Rapids in two matches and its suits us because they are a home team there.

It will be a good competitive test for us.” Lawrence said it was vital for the TT squad to believe that they can pull off a positive result in Denver.

“Everyone understands the history shows that it’s not a nice place for us in terms of collecting points but we have to believe that we can go there and get points. We have to go there and be positive and brave as I continue to say. I have tried to emphasise to the boys is that we are leaving here and starting with a point so the idea is we are not going there to give away the point, but instead add to the point that we’ve already got,” Lawrence added.

“When we get to Costa Rica we will deal with that but the idea now is to come away with a positive result in the next game which is against the United States.” The former TT central defender continued, “the main thing is to make sure that from an acclimatisation point that we are well prepared physically. In terms of how we intend to approach the games, we are going to be on the front foot and try to compete with them. We are going to go toe-totoe because I don’t think we can afford to sit back and allow the US to take full control of the game. It’s not going to be easy because historically it’s not a generous place for us to go to but we need to try and start thinking differently now and believe we can go there and accomplish things.”