Interim Soca Warriors men’s head coach Derek King is expected to name his 23-man squad today for T&T’s opening two Group B matches of the 2024/2025 Concacaf Nations League (CNL) League A.
The Soca Warriors will open their CNL campaign away to Honduras on September 6 at the Estadio Nacional Chelato Ucles, Tegucigalpa, before hosting French Guiana at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Tobago, on September 10 at 7 pm.
T&T has been drawn in Group B with Jamaica, Honduras, Cuba, Nicaragua, and French Guiana while Group A is made up of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Suriname, and Guyana.
King was appointed as interim coach of the team last month after the sacking of Angus Eve following a meeting chaired by T&T Football Association (TTFA) president and technical committee chairman Kieron Edwards. He was given a vote of confidence by the same recently-elected head of the football association.
Reached for comment, King, a former national defender and assistant coach under Stephen Hart and national Under-20 coach as well, said his 23-man squad, which will leave for Honduras on Tuesday (September 3), will come from the provisional squad of 40 players already submitted to Concacaf.
Asked if any surprises could be expected with his team selection, King said, “We have 40 players to choose from and we also have to be mindful that local season is not up and running so the level of fitness of players would have been taken into consideration in team selection.”
The core of King’s first team is expected to come from those who played in the last World Cup qualifier against Bahamas inclusive of goalkeeper Denzil Smith, Shannon Gomez, Real Gill, Aubrey David, Justin Garcia, Andre Raymond, Triston Hodge, Noah Powder, Alvin Jones, Daniel Phillips, Ajani Fortune, Nathaniel James, Reon Moore, Levi Garcia, Andre Rampersad, Ryan Telfer, Steffen Yeates, Dantaye Gilbert, and Malcolm Shaw.
King also confirmed three changes to his technical staff, with former national midfielder and captain Reynold Carrington and goalkeeper Clayton Ince being replaced as assistant coach and goalkeeper coach, respectively, as well as physiotherapist Roger Ryan.
He said, “The core of the coaching staff stays the same with the only changes being Walt Noreiga, the coach of AC Port-of-Spain coming in for Carrington, and Ince making way for Ross Russell.
“We have also replaced physiotherapist Roger Ryan with Joey Rooplal otherwise all other members of staff inclusive of Michael Williams (equipment manager), Adaryll John (trainer), Saron Joseph (massage therapist/trainer), Richard Piper (manager) and Akash Dhanai (doctor) have all been retained.”
Eve was axed on July 31 despite having more than a year left on his contract and according to the TTFA release, King’s appointment was only for the two matches in the September window.
Following the matches against Honduras and French Guiana, T&T will then face Cuba in a pair of matches on October 10 away from home, and then four days later at home.
After Group Stage play in September and October, the first and second-place finishers of each group will advance to the quarterfinals, where they will join the four top-ranked League A teams (Mexico, USA, Panama, and Canada).
The quarterfinals will be played in November in a home-and-away format, with the aggregate score winner in each matchup advancing to the 2025 Concacaf Nations League Finals.
The Soca Warriors are also involved in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Second Round qualifiers and have four points from two matches after drawing their opener at home with St Kitts & Nevis 2-2 followed by an emphatic 7-1 blowout of Bahamas, Eve’s last match in charge while Costa Rica leads the table with a maximum six points.
T&T will complete their four-match schedule in 2025 with a home encounter against St Kitts & Nevis on June 6, followed by an away outing to group favourite Costa Rica, four days later.
Soca Warriors technical staff:
Derek King (coach), Walt Noreiga (assistant coach), Ross Russell (goalkeeper coach), Richard Piper (manager), Saron Joseph (massage therapist/trainer), Adaryll John (trainer), Michael Williams (equipment manager), Joey Rooplal (physiotherapist), Akash Dhanai (doctor).