TT, Reggae Boyz must be well prepared for U-23 football test

NEW YORK: Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago will have to be well prepared for the opening day of the final round of the CONCACAF men’s Under-23 Olympic qualification in Guadalajara, Mexico, from February 2 to 12. The two Caribbean Football Union teams are scheduled to face Central American giants Costa Rica and Mexico respectively, in opening matches of the tough Group “B” and the final round of competition. Two days later, the two CFU teams switch their Central American opponents for their second round of matches before facing each other in another two days in a match that essentially will decide the best Under-23 side in the Union.

The final round of qualification will feature two groups of four teams with Canada, Honduras, Panama and USA in Group “A” at the Estadio 3 de Marzo in Guadalajara, while Group “B” is contested at the Estadio Jalisco. The eight-team event kicks off on Monday, February 2, and will have six consecutive first round double headers (three each in Groups “A” and “B”) until Saturday, February 7. The top two teams in each group advance to the semi-finals on Tuesday, February 10, with Group “A” winners taking on Group “B” runners-up and Group “B” winners facing the runners-up from Group “A.” The semi-final losers will meet in the third-place match on Thursday, February 12, while the two finalists, who will also meet on February 12, earn CONCACAF’s automatic berths to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.