T&T Under-17 men’s football team will go all out to score as many goals as they can when they are up against Group B whipping boys Sint Maarten of the Concacaf Under-17 Championship Qualifiers at the Estadio Nacional in San Jose, Costa Rica, from 6 pm on Thursday.
Going into the match,. the Shawn Cooper-coached T&T Under-17s sit third in the five-team pool with four points from two matches, the same as Guyana, while host Costa Rica leads with a maximum of six points, with British Virgin Islands fourth with three points from as many matches, and Sint Maarten in the cellar spot without a spot after three matches as well.
At the end of the round-robin group series, only the winners of the eight respective groups being contested across the Concacaf region will qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup from November 5 to 27 in Qatar, which will be the first to feature 48 teams.
And with a final day clash against the Costa Ricans to come on Sunday from 9 pm, Cooper will be keen for players to bolster their goal aggregate.
In their two matches to date, the ‘goal-shy’ T&T drew 1-1 with Guyana in their opening match before beating BVI 3-1 with all the goals for the young Soca Warriors coming in the first half.
Sint Maarten, on the other hand, was outclassed in their three matches to date: 4-0 by BVI, 12-0 against Costa Rica, and 3-0 versus Guyana, and should pose no real danger for Cooper’s men.
In the Group B second match tonight, Guyana tackles host Costa Rica with both teams eager to continue their unbeaten run with the aim of topping the group on Sunday to qualify for Qatar.
Wednesday’s results
Group A
Curacao 2 vs Turks & Caicos 0
Canada 8 vs Anguilla 0
Group B
Guyana 3 vs Sint Maarten 0
Costa Rica 5 vs British Virgin Islands 0
Group C
Barbados 1 vs Dominica 0
Mexico 3 vs Belize 0
Group E
Haiti 5 vs St Vincent and the Grenadines 0
Guatemala 2 vs Antigua & Barbuda 1
Group C
Belize 7 vs Dominica 0
Nicaragua 6 vs Barbados 0
Today’s matches
Group A
Curacao vs Canada, 3 pm
Turks & Caicos vs Bermuda, 8 pm
Group B
Sint Maarten vs T&T, 6 pm
Guyana vs Costa Rica, 9 pm
Group C:
Dominica vs Nicaragua, 2 pm
Barbados vs Mexico, 5 pm
Group E
Antigua & Barbuda vs Haiti, 6 pm
St Vincent and the Grenadines vs Guatemala, 9 pm
Group B standings
Teams*P*W*D*L*F*A*Pts
Costa Rica*2*2*0*0*17*0*6
Guyana*2*1*1*0*4*1*4
T&T*2*1*1*0*4*2*4
BVI*3*1*0*2*5*8*3
Sint Maarten*3*0*0*3*0*19*0