Twelve of Trinidad and Tobago’s national Under 20 footballers under assistant coach Hutson Charles trained for the first time under humid conditions at the training pitch located near the Intercontinental Hotel in Al Ain as they kicked off their 20-day tour of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The remaining eight members of the squad, including head coach Zoran Vranes, were scheduled in last night and the full 20-man squad will have a session this evening ahead of the first of two warm-up matches against the UAE’s national Under-20 team at the Al Ain Sports Complex tomorrow at 10am TT time.

The first batch of players arrived in Dubai on Saturday night via Houston but a mishap in visa transactions in Port of Spain forced the second group to travel via London a day later.

The hosts will play T&T tomorrow and also on Wednesday at the same venue as they prepare to face  Honduras, South Africa and Hungary in Group F of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt in September.

The venue for the matches here is one of the home grounds for UAE’s most successful professional Club Al Ain FC who are also one of Asia’s most successful clubs. FIFA vice-president Jack Warner is an honorary president of the club.

While the dry desert air makes it a welcome retreat from the coastal humidity of the larger cities, it was not so easy for the T&T players on their first day there. However assistant Charles felt the timing of the trip is perfect as there are expected to be similar conditions in Egypt.

’We got a good feel of the conditions here and even though we had a long travel, it was important to have a session to get the boys acclimatised to the conditions here because we expect it will be similar in Egypt,’ Charles told TTFF Media.

’The Federation has to be commended for arranging this trip because from all reports, the UAE has a pretty strong under-20 team and we expect to get two very good games from them. The timing is close but this is very good for these players to be able to come out to places like this and experience the culture and the conditions. Back in my time as a youth player, we didn’t get these kind of opportunities so it’s important that we take everything and grasp it fully from this kind of experience,’ Charles added.

In related news, the management staff of the under-20 team advised that after travelling through Houston, there are currently no members of the T&T contingent with any symptoms of flu and they will be continuously monitored during the tour. Host officials here in the UAE are also aware of the Swine Flu outbreak and have pledged to assist the T&T team in every way possible.