PANAMA CITY, Panama (CMC) – Curasao and Jamaica, two of the Caribbean Football Union’s five teams in the final round of CONCACAF qualification for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup next year in India, have identified their goals for the regional tournament that will be played from April 21 next year here.

For Curaçao, it will be the end of a 20-year wait to the return to this final round of the CONCACAF tournament, and for Jamaica, it will be practically business as usual as they try to qualify for the world tournament for a third time.The Curaçaoans earned a place in the CONCACAF finals after finishing fourth in the Caribbean qualifying tournament, and head coach Ludwig Alberto took time to reflect on the significance of their accomplishment.“This is a historic moment for us because it had been 20 years since Curaçao qualified for the event,” he told“We started with this group about four or five years ago and we put them like in a college system, training two or three times a week. It was very important and now you can see that they play soccer very well. We also have a couple of players from Holland and we put together a good team that understands the tactics.”Albert said Curaçao, which has been drawn in Group A of the final round alongside Honduras, Haiti and hosts Panama, have been training hard since their qualification and work will not stop as they prepare for a tough battle.“We started our preparations already and it’s going very well,” he said. “Our main problem is that four to six of the guys are playing right now in Holland. They will come in December and also in January because we have to train together. You can’t come two or three weeks before the tournament because it’s a big tournament for us.“We have an advantage over the other teams in the group because nobody knows about Curaçao. They have to study us, but we know a lot of things about the other teams. That’s our advantage. We’re going to go for it, for sure, in April.”At the same time, Jamaica head coach Andrew Edwards is still trying to digest the group that the draw has dealt him, with the United States, Mexico and El Salvador his opponents in Group C.“It is really a difficult group for Jamaica,” he said. “It is really going to be important the way we prepare going forward. The first game (on April 23) is going to be huge against the United States, and we need a good start and need to ensure we don’t get beaten.”Edwards identified one crucial area in which he will be focusing over the next few months as the team prepares for the big challenge.“We have to improve our defensive play,” he said. “That is crucial for us. We have to come with some big time defensive performances to get the results we want against the United States, Mexico and El Salvador to advance from our group.”Group A — Panama, Honduras, Curacao, HaitiGroup B — Costa Rica, Canada, Cuba, SurinameGroup C — Mexico, El Salvador, Jamaica, United States

For Curaçao, it will be the end of a 20-year wait to the return to this final round of the CONCACAF tournament, and for Jamaica, it will be practically business as usual as they try to qualify for the world tournament for a third time.

The Curaçaoans earned a place in the CONCACAF finals after finishing fourth in the Caribbean qualifying tournament, and head coach Ludwig Alberto took time to reflect on the significance of their accomplishment.

“This is a historic moment for us because it had been 20 years since Curaçao qualified for the event,” he told

CONCACAF.com. “It is very important for the youth of Curaçao. CCuraçao is very proud of our youth right now and we’re going to go for it — to try and play well at the tournament.

“We started with this group about four or five years ago and we put them like in a college system, training two or three times a week. It was very important and now you can see that they play soccer very well. We also have a couple of players from Holland and we put together a good team that understands the tactics.”

Albert said Curaçao, which has been drawn in Group A of the final round alongside Honduras, Haiti and hosts Panama, have been training hard since their qualification and work will not stop as they prepare for a tough battle.

“We started our preparations already and it’s going very well,” he said. “Our main problem is that four to six of the guys are playing right now in Holland. They will come in December and also in January because we have to train together. You can’t come two or three weeks before the tournament because it’s a big tournament for us.

“We have an advantage over the other teams in the group because nobody knows about Curaçao. They have to study us, but we know a lot of things about the other teams. That’s our advantage. We’re going to go for it, for sure, in April.”

At the same time, Jamaica head coach Andrew Edwards is still trying to digest the group that the draw has dealt him, with the United States, Mexico and El Salvador his opponents in Group C.

“It is really a difficult group for Jamaica,” he said. “It is really going to be important the way we prepare going forward. The first game (on April 23) is going to be huge against the United States, and we need a good start and need to ensure we don’t get beaten.”

Edwards identified one crucial area in which he will be focusing over the next few months as the team prepares for the big challenge.

“We have to improve our defensive play,” he said. “That is crucial for us. We have to come with some big time defensive performances to get the results we want against the United States, Mexico and El Salvador to advance from our group.”

Group A — Panama, Honduras, Curacao, Haiti

Group B — Costa Rica, Canada, Cuba, Suriname

Group C — Mexico, El Salvador, Jamaica, United States