Trinidad & Tobago's Kelvin Jack (left), Dennis Lawrence (centre) and Marvin Andrews (right) celebrate at the end of their match after beating Bahrain during the second leg of the FIFA World Cup 2006 qualifying play-off at Bahrain National Stadium in Manama yesterday. Trinidad won 1-0 to advance to the World Cup. - REUTERS/Adnan Hajj
port-of-spain, trinidad, (cmc)
SIXTEEN YEARS AFTER failing to make the World Cup Finals in Italy, Trinidad and Tobago will be heading to Germany next year as the smallest country, both in size and population, on the world's premier soccer stage.
In 1989, needing only a point to secure the final berth at the finals in Italy in 1990, the home fans watched in disbelief as the United States scored the lone goal that booted the 'Strike Squad' team out of the championship.
It was a game that left a country best known for its creation of the steel pan from oil drums and calypso, an infectious Caribbean rhythm, in tatters.
MOMENT IN TIME
But yesterday, Trinidadians took to the streets in the midday sun to celebrate the victory over Bahrain, honking car horns, shooting off fire works and forgetting, at least for the time being, the crime situation in a country that has resulted in the death of 300 people and the abduction of more than 200 so far this year.
"We are going to Germany," said one enthusiastic crowd member, while another radio caller said "this is therapy for the country".
"It is a moment in time," said sports commentator Joel Vilifana.
Prime Minister Patrick Manning, who was attending a sitting of the Parliament when the results of the game was relayed to legislators, said he too joined the whole country "in the tremendous pride that the people of Trinidad and Tobago are now experiencing."
"I would like to congratulate the team and tell them that a proper welcome awaits them when they return tomorrow," Manning said.
He said despite the draw in Port of Spain over the weekend, he always felt that "the true test of the team would be to win away from home."
HISTORIC' WIN
The main opposition United National Congress (UNC) described the victory as "historic" and said it hoped the team would show off its qualities beyond the first round of the finals in Germany.
Yesterday's 1-0 victory over the tiny Middle Eastern country of Bahrain by the 'Soca Warriors', gave them a 2-1 aggregate win in the two-match series and brought closure to the many attempts by the national team to recapture the enthusiasm for the game that propelled captain Dwight Yorke and Russell Latapy, two of the survivors of the 1989 match, to international stardom.
DUKE OF YORKE
Yorke, 34, emerged as the country's most recognised footballer, plying his trade now in Australia, after having stints with a number of football teams in the Premiership League in Britain, including the world famous, Manchester United, with whom he enjoyed both British and European glory.
Latapy, 36, nicknamed the "Magician" has also been able to show off his skills on the European stage, including Portugal where he played with Porto and in Scotland, where he is now a coach and player to the Falkirk team in the Scottish premier division.
"If you can pick two players to represent Trinidad and Tobago in a World Cup, it would be Russell and Dwight. Russell to me is by far the best player ever to put on a Trinidad and Tobago jersey. And Dwight deserves to play because he is the most famous player from Trinidad and Tobago," said Leonson Lewis, who played professional football in Portugal and was also a member of the 1989 "Strike Squad" team.
Now as the country of 1.3 million people, whose ancestors came from Africa as slaves, and India as indentured labourers, prepare to line up along side the likes of Brazil, France, Portugal, England, and even the United States, the players are aware, just like Jamaica before them, they carry the hopes and aspirations of an entire Caribbean population.
"Any team that qualifies from the Caribbean region affects positively all the other countries," said Horace Burrell, a former Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president.
"I can recall when we qualified for the 1998 World Cup that every Caribbean territory told me how very proud they were and therefore I see no difference in this case," added Burrell, who guided Jamaica's successful run to France 1998.
The arrival of Dutch Coach, Leo Beenhakker, who took over the team as it languished at the bottom of the ladder during the early final round qualifying stages in the CONCACAF zone, has had wonders for the national team.
Beenhakker, who failed to take a talented Dutch team past the World Cup second round in 1990 and was axed by the Saudi Arabian authorities after steering their outfit to the 1994 tournament, has been able to use the blend of overseas professionals and local talent to good effect.
BEENHAKKER'S PEP TALK
"If you have the ambition to play on a high international level, it's part of the job. You prepare yourself and you play your brains out," Beenhakker told his charge prior to the game against Bahrain yesterday.
Vice-president of the International Football Federation (FIFA), Austin "Jack" Warner, who spent millions of his own money in order to have the country qualify for the world's greatest sporting event, had little doubt of the team's ability to do the job in Bahrain after the 1-1 draw in the Port of Spain first leg last Saturday.
"We will qualify, there is no doubt about that," Warner said prior to leaving here for Bahrain on the specially charted flight that took the Trinidadian players to the Middle East.
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