PROVIDENCIALES, Turks & Caicos Islands; Thursday, May 22nd 2014 – The Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI) Men’s National Soccer Team will be traveling to Aruba next week. There, they take part in the Preliminary Qualification Round of The 2014 Caribbean Cup, consisting of three games against Aruba, the British Virgin Islands and French Guiana.
The 2014 Caribbean Cup will be the 17th edition of the Caribbean Cup, an international football competition for national teams of member nations affiliated with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) of the CONCACAF region. What is more, the Caribbean Cup is a qualifying tournament for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and it will be the TCI team’s first international tournament since the World Cup Qualifying games against The Bahamas in 2011 and also Craig Harrington’s first game as TCIFA’s Technical Director.
Of The Caribbean Cup, the Technical Director said: “You have to be realistic. We are in a group with three other teams and it’s going to be real battle. I think we have the potential to get out of this first group but it depends on the first game against Aruba. That game is a World Cup final for us and if we can get three points then our confidence will rise and then we go into the final games with a fighting chance. Our team can do some real damage with the quality of players we have, especially going forward.”
Chris Bryan, President of the TCIFA said: “The team we have assembled is made up of predominately academy players who have come up through the TCIFA youth system from an early age. This is a milestone in our development of football here in the islands. The team is well coached and well prepared. It is a dynamic and exciting young team whom we believe will surprise many people within the Caribbean region.”
For the first time, the competition and its qualifying stages have been scheduled to take place during officially sanctioned FIFA international match periods. The change was made to assist the national Football Associations selecting high profile Caribbean players whose clubs would be otherwise reluctant to lose the players service while on international duty. Previous editions of the competition have taken place on non-FIFA calendar dates. Should TCI win the group, the next stage, Group 4, will be in San Juan, Puerto Rico from 1st to 8th September 2014.
TCI MEN’S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM
The 20-men squad for Team TCI consists of Raymondson Azemard, Luis Turbyfield, Marc Fenelus, Billy Forbes, Fred Dorvil, Gavin Glinton, Kely Louima, Wildens Delva, Chris Gardiner, Marcdonald Fenelus, James Rene, Peguy Derilien, Stevens Derilien, Paul Collis, Jack McKnight, Philip Shearer, Syed Hassan, Rodney Davilmar, Jerry Liluce and Alex Bryan.
Team TCI National Soccer Team travels to Aruba via InterCaribbean Airlines on Wednesday, May 28th, returning Wednesday, June 4th. All games will be held at the Guillermo Prospero Trinidad Stadium(Trinidad Stadium) in Aruba.
For more information on the TCIFA and the TCI’s Men’s National Soccer Team, kindly contact Sonia Bien-Aime, Secretary General on 941-5532 or email .
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ABOUT Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association – The Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA) is a non-for-profit organization in the business of football development throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands. The TCIFA has been in operation since 1996, and a member of FIFA, since 1998.
