U-20, U-17 players get Intercol ban

THERE will be no more RBTT Intercol action for members of the national under-20 and under-17 squads. Coaches Anton Corneal (under-20) and Under-17 boss Nigel Grosvenor have slapped a ban on their players from further participation in the intercol series with immediate effect. Instead, both squads are expected to enter live-n camps shortly, as they prepare for Caribbean Football Union world qualifying games against Cuba. The bans came following the defeats by both squad by Venezuela in warm-up matches, which Grosvenor described as “suitable tests.” Grosvenor said the important thing coming out of the games were seeing the speed at which they need to play.

He pointed out that his players realised they took too long to settle down in the first half of their games, and noted when they stepped up the pace they enjoyed more of the game. The coach said skipper Javed Mohammed, playing on the left flank saw less of the ball and struggled because the service to him was too slow. And he pointed out that Mohammed is a critical distributor for his team out on the left. Grosvenor indicated his intention to intensify preparations and noted “we realise mentally we can match international teams like Venezuela, who play a similar style like the Cubans.

“What we need though is to be able to maintain our standard for 90 minutes.” Meanwhile, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation are inviting players from the East born between 1990 and 1991 to attend a screening session for possible selection on the national under-17 squad for 2007. This session takes place at WASA ground, St Joseph, from 8 am to midday on Sunday. Corneal will supervise these sessions. As he goes about selecting under-15 starlets who will become the under-17 team by 2007.