Trinidad & Tobago men’s futsal team head coach Constantine Konstin announced his 14-man squad for the upcoming CONCACAF Futsal Championship in Guatemala in May.
The team is comprised of former and current national footballers but only one player – Jameel Neptune with any formal futsal experience. However, veteran players such as Willis Plaza, Keron ‘Ballpest’ Cummings and Sean De Silva are named to bolster the squad.
In a recent interview Neptune said, “I feel more positive with the team we have now; we have a lot of quality players. Once we do exactly what the coach wants then we can qualify for this World Cup.” Speaking on his experiences thus far working with head coach Konstin. “He brings a lot of tactics to the game because he knows the game a lot.” The defender further commented on the matchups that await them in Guatemala City. “Every team that we have to play is important because we cannot take any teams for granted. We are three games away from qualifying for the World Cup so every single game is important.”
The former US futsal player, Konstin included in his squad: Andre Marchan (GK), Kern Caeser (GK), Plaza, Dwight Quintero, Mark Ramdeen, Dylon King, Aaron Lester, Sean De Silva, Jameel Neptune, Keston George, Keron Cummings, Che Benny, Adrian Welch, Darius Olliviera.
Konstin is assisted by Paul Decle (assistant coach), Dunstan Williams (goalkeeper coach), Nigel Roberts (manager), Stephen Bernard (equipment manager), Mark Lewis (trainer).
The Championship will take place in Guatemala City, Guatemala, from May 3-9 and it will be played at the Domo Polideportivo and Teodoro Palacios Flores Gymnasium which hosted the 2000 FIFA Futsal World Cup.
T&T is grouped alongside the host team Guatemala and Dominican Republic in Group A. The Soca Warriors are hoping to make the top four spots in Guatemala in order to qualify for the Lithuania 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup which is carded for September 12 – October 6. In essence, T&T has to qualify from their group and win one knockout match to book a spot to Lithuania.
Leading up the crucial matches in Guatemala, T&T will be getting two crucial friendly matches against Costa Rica at the Scotiabank Arena in Alajuela on April 26th and 27th.
During their preparations at home, they played a series of matches against Mafas FC, a team comprising of former Venezuelan national Futsal players as well as Defence Force and teams made up of former national futsal players.
