T&T’s Aim for Copa America date with Argentina
T&T’s Aim for Copa America date with Argentina
This Thursday the Draw for the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 took place at the Hyatt Regency, Miami in Miami, Florida, during which the national teams from Concacaf learned their group stage fate.
In Group A, the winner of the Concacaf Nations League Play-In between Canada and Trinidad and Tobago will join reigning Copa America and 2022 FIFA World Cup winners Argentina, along with Peru and 2016 Copa America Centenario champions Chile.
The Concacaf Nations League Play-In will take place on March 23 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. Neither Canada nor Trinidad and Tobago have ever participated in a Copa America.
Trinidad and Tobago was represented at the draw by five TTFA officials including head coach Angus Eve, Senior Men’s Team manager Richard Piper, Security officer Major Basil Thompson, Head of Medical Dr Akash Dhanai and Director of Communications/Media Shaun Fuentes.
There were several othr high-profile personalities at the Draw including FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Concacaf President Victor Montagliani, Argentina’s head coach Lionel Scaloni, Ronaldinho
Senior Team head coach Angus Eve stated, “This is tremendous for Trinidad and Tobago football to have an opportunity to play in a tournament as illustrious as this. This is the oldest country tournament and we’re privileged to be here and to face the type of opposition that we may have the opportunity to face. It’s a blessing,” Eve told TTFA media.
He said the possibility of facing Argentina serves as “motivation” for his troops to go all-out against Canada in their final qualifier.
T&T missed out on automatic Copa qualification when they were eliminated in the Concacaf Nations League quarter-final by USA, over two legs, in November. Canada faced a similar fate against Jamaica.
The other two losing quarter-finalists – Costa Rica and Honduras – also play a one-match playoff on March 23, at the same venue, for a spot in Group D with Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay.
Eve said the draw serves as great motivation.
“Just for the guys to know they have the opportunity to play the world and Copa America champions, and the best player in the world (Messi), it’s motivation enough for the boys to come out.
“It’s motivation enough for the country to get behind the team, and every corporate (body) and government to get behind and support the team to prepare for such a massive opportunity.”
Although salivating at the prospects that await, Eve said T&T should not get ahead of themselves, since Canada will be no walk in the park. He, however, welcomed the challenge.
“We were looking at the draw and were hoping that we got Mexico or Argentina to be honest. These are the type of games you want to play. You want to put these players through the rigours and have the opportunity to play some of the best teams in the world.
“But I just want to be mindful that we still have a job to do. We still have to play Canada which a very tough team, and we need to get over that hurdle first. And hopefully we have the excitement of playing in the Copa America.”
For the new year, Eve said he will continue working assiduously with his local crop of players, and will use January/February 2024 to improve their overall competitiveness. He made it clear that Carnival 2024 is not an option for his players.
“We’re trying to expose the locally-based players as much as possible within January and February, with training camps over the Carnival period. (We’ll) take the boys away from the Carnival a little bit.
“Hopefully, come March, we’ll have all the other foreign-based players that would join the group for a two-week camp to prepare for the Canada game.”
T&T captain Aubrey David also saw the draw as a “blessing” and believes the possibility of facing Argentina will bring out the best in the team.
A chance to play in such a prestigious tournament as Copa, he said, is a great confidence booster.
“Reaching to a Copa is a big plus for us as it will do a lot for us and the country. After seeing the draw, being able to face the World Cup champions and having other chance to play against them, I think it’s a lot of motivation.
“It’s no secret that everyone would like to play against Lionel Messi. Not only playing against them, but playing in that type of tournament – it’s a big boost. They guys are already motivated thinking about the Canada game.”
David rued their missed chances for automatic qualification but said, knowing they’re 90 minutes away from a historic Copa debut, the team is pumped. As captain, David believes the next three months are crucial, and wants to lead by example.
“I need to make sure I take care of myself, continue to play and get rhythm so I can lead from that standpoint. After every international camp, I tell the guys we need to continue to grow so when they go back to their clubs, to continue to put that extra work in because we already know we’re fighting for a bigger goal,” he added.
David admonished his teammates that now is not the time for complacency.
“Continue to take care of yourself and push. Because the more they do that they will continue to progress, grow in confidence and quality. If everyone keeps pushing themselves and we regroup to face Canada, we’ll be in a much better shape and form.
“We already have togetherness so once we continue to grow from there, the message to me is to continue to push themselves so we can achieve the collective goal, which is Copa qualification.”
Copa America groups:
Group A: Argentina, Peru, Chile, Trinidad and Tobago/Canada.
Group B: México, Ecuador, Venezuela, Jamaica.
Group C: USA, Uruguay, Panamá, Bolivia.
Group D: Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Costa Rica/Honduras.
Montagliani: Copa America will help our teams prepare for World Cup
MIAMI, Florida – The Draw for the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 took place on Thursday night in Miami, Florida, during which the national teams from Concacaf learned their group stage fate.
Taking part in the ceremony was Concacaf president Victor Montagliani, whose leadership paved the way for six Concacaf guest teams to participate in next summer’s tournament and, as part of a strategic agreement between the two Confederations, for the competition to be hosted in the Concacaf region.
Montagliani hailed the partnership formed by Concacaf and CONMEBOL to come together to co-organize the Copa America 2024, and emphasized how next summer’s tournament complements Concacaf’s own competitions, including Nations League and Gold Cups, and will provide ample preparation for Concacaf teams ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.
“It’s evidence of when leadership and two very important confederations come together and put football first. The game is going to win here because you’re going to have a great tournament next year,” said Montagliani in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com.
“I think we realized early on that we needed to make sure that we made our own competitions better, like our Nations League, our Gold Cup. This was an opportunity, after speaking with my counterpart, Alejandro Dominguez, to come together and partner with them, not just on the men’s side like we have now with Copa America, but also on the women’s side with a W Gold Cup. This fits in well with our strategy to increase not only the quantity of competitions, but also the quality of competitions, and this will help our teams prepare for the World Cup in our backyard,” added Montagliani.
The Copa America 2024 is just the latest sign of growth of football in the Concacaf region. In addition to the Copa America 2024 and 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will also be played in North America.
Montagliani welcomes the abundance of elite-level football that will be played in the Concacaf region in the upcoming years.
“FIFA is also going to have the Club World Cup here in 2025 and I think from a fan’s perspective, I’m not sure we’ve ever had this, so it’s a great time to be involved in the game, at whatever level you are,” said Montagliani.
Montagliani also hopes that the upcoming international tournaments to be played in North America opens the eyes of the rest of the world to see the strides made in football both on and off the field in the Concacaf region.
“I think it’s a bit of a coming out party for our region. Obviously, we’ve struggled in the past at many levels, but I think, as I said a long time ago, for the work we’ve done in the last six years, we deserve the right to think long-term. We also now deserve the right to enjoy the present and all the football that is coming our way,” concluded Montagliani.
