PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Newly appointed head coach, Tom Saintfiet, will have his first chance to judge Trinidad and Tobago when the national side takes on Nicaragua in two international friendlies later this month.
T&T are scheduled to leave the country Christmas Day for Managua where they take on Nicaragua on December 27 and 30 in games which will serve as preparation for January’s CONCACAF Gold Cup playoff matches.They take on Caribbean Football Union sides Suriname on January 4 and Haiti four days later, for the opportunity to face the Central America qualifier in the final playoff contest.
New coach Tom Saintfiet … will preside over his first two international games with Trinidad and Tobago.
“First of all I am very happy that the Football Association has been able to arrange these two friendly matches at such short notice because these will be important preparation games for us before the important Gold Cup qualifiers in January,” Saintfiet said.“It also helps me as coach to analyse the players we will select and as well as to implement and try out possible strategies which we will want to use in our matches to follow. It will also help us in the development of the team for the future.”
Saintfiet was unveiled last Wednesday at a media conference here by the T&T FA, replacing Trinidad and Tobago-born Stephen Hart who was sacked last month.
The 43-year-old Belgian said he was hoping to select the strongest side possible even though he was still unsure which players would be unavailable.
“I hope we can have the best possible squad for the matches,” Saintfiet said.“We are still not sure about the availability of some of the European-based players and whether they will be released by their clubs because these two games and also the ones in January are not within the FIFA dates.
“But I promise you that the players who will be selected from both foreign and local teams will form a strong squad to give us decent results in Nicaragua and to help us prepare for the important matches in January.”Saintfiet has been given the task of winning the next two CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers next March or face the sack.
