Garcia brothers in 24-man Roster
EVE SELECTS 24-MAN ROSTER FOR COURTS CARIBBEAN CLASSIC
Trinidad and Tobago head coach Angus Eve today announced a 24-man roster for the upcoming Courts Caribbean Classic Tri-Nation International match series.
The hosts will take on Barbados on Friday from 7:00pm at the Hasely Crawford Stadium before closing off against Guyana on Tuesday March 29th at the same time and venue. Guyana and Barbados will meet on March 27 at the Mucurapo venue from 7pm.
Spearheading Eve’s attack will be Greek-based attacking player Levi Garcia of AEK Athens as he makes his first return to the National side since the 2-0 win over St Kitts Nevis in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying last June. His brother Judah Garcia has also been recalled after last running out in T&T colours during the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifiers. Eve has also recalled Moldova-based defender Keston Julien who now has UEFA Champions League and Europa League experience to his name with Sheriff Tiraspol.
Earning a first-time call up is Samory Powder of the University of Detroit Mercy. Midfielder Jomal Williams was ruled out of contention after suffering a hamstring injury on the weekend.
“When we looked at the squad, this would have been the first real opportunity to select all of the players that are available and bar some absences because of some personal issues here, club commitments there, basically we got the bulk of players we would have wanted in the squad,” Eve told TTFA Media.
“It’s a major boost for the country to have the likes of Levi Garcia back in the fray. He has not been in the squad since the World Cup qualifiers last year. Also Keston Julien has not been in since the qualifiers. Now we are starting over after having a decent Gold Cup run and trying to rebuild. These guys are experienced but they are young and then we also have a bit more experienced players in the squad such as Marvin Phillip, Radandfah Abu Baker.
“We also have some younger players like goalkeeper Denzil Smith who has been doing really well for himself, Judah Garcia who is out in Europe, Powder who I expect a lot from. We brought back young Nicholas Dillion, a number 9 as you know we are lacking in that area. So I am very excited to be working with the group,” he continued.
“I think it’s a good blend of mid-range aged players, with a couple senior players and players that we have in an age group which can take us through Project 2026 for which I am seeing . We are in good stead from now until that time once we prepare right. These two games are sort of stepping stones to reestablish ourselves in this region because we came out of the World Cup behind Caribbean teams so this is an opportunity for us to test ourselves against two quality Caribbean teams coached by two sons of the soil. I played with Russell for years and learnt a lot of stuff off of him as a player. Jamaal Shabazz has actually coached me at clubs such as Joe Public and Caledonia so it will be interesting to see how the student attacks the both teachers in this series,” Eve added.
The T&T team will have its first training session on Tuesday afternoon at the Hasely Crawford Stadium and will enter a residential training camp earlier in the day.
Tickets, priced at $150 (Covered section) and $100 (Uncovered) will be available to fully vaccinated patrons and available from Tuesday afternoon at The Fan Club (Trincity Mall), Fan Zone (Movietowne Port of Spain, Chaguanas), Legends Sports Bar in Point Fortin, the TTFA head office at Ato Boldon Stadium and on matchdays at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
A live stream will also be avable via pay per view for fans at $5USD per game via tiziq.com
