Rio Ferdinand - FILE
LONDON, ENGLAND, CMC
ENGLAND STAR DEFENDER Rio Ferdinand is relishing next summer's clash with Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Warriors at the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany, The Voice newspaper reported this week.
The 27-year-old Ferdinand, who plays for Manchester United, told The Voice that when England play Trinidad & Tobago in Nuremberg on June 15 next year, it will be a "great occasion".
The two nations were placed - alongside Paraguay and Sweden - in Group B at the December 9 draw in Leipzig.
And Ferdinand, who became the world's most expensive defender when he moved from Leeds United to Manchester United for £30 million (US$52 million) in July 2002, believes the match will generate colossal interest in Britain.
"I think the game against Trinidad and Tobago will be a great occasion for the Caribbean community in England. There is a massive Caribbean community in England, including my family - my dad is from St Lucia," Ferdinand said.
"I'm sure there's going to be a massive amount of interest in this for Caribbean people in England, in the Caribbean and all over the world. There' ll be a lot of split allegiances but I'm also sure that a lot of the Caribbean community in England will be supporting us (England) - other than the ones from Trinidad and Tobago, I suppose," he added.
Ferdinand spoke of his familiarity with some of the T&T players and expressed delight for the captain Dwight Yorke, who finally gets a chance on the biggest stage of world football after going close as an 18-year-old in 1989, when T&T's "Strike Squad" missed qualifying for the 1990 finals by a single point.
"I'm really delighted for Yorkie to get there," Ferdinand said.
The big defender, who played at West Ham before he went to Leeds, said the knowledge that many of the T&T players have of England's game and players will benefit the eight-time Caribbean Cup champions and make the game a lot tougher than you would expect for a world ninth-ranked team against a side rated 50th in the world.
"Obviously I know Shaka (Hislop) and Dwight Yorke and many others playing in England so I'm sure it'll be a very difficult game."
Ferdinand added that T&T's game is not totally foreign to him, since he has seen them play.
"I watched their play-off game against Bahrain so I've seen a little bit of them in action," he said.
The Soca Warriors' other scheduled games in Germany will be on June 10 against Sweden and June 20 in Kaiserslautern against Paraguay.
Trinidad and Tobago became the fourth Caribbean team - after Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica - to qualify for a World Cup Finals' tournament when they edged Bahrain 2-1 on aggregate in their play-off in mid-November.
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