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After following Trinidad for the 2010 World Cup campaign and seeing us fall to last place in the hexagonal final round was just depressing. The seeds for our demise were sown right after the qualification for the 2006 World Cup. There was such euphoria after we qualified. I can remember almost crying when we beat Bahrain, the hope that I had after drawing with Sweden, the honor in our play against England and then finally the defeat to Paraguay.
I remember reading the newspaper updates on the Jack Warner scandal and how he didn’t want to pay the players, even though they had done such service for the country and after he had made a GAZILLION dollars with “his” ticket and hotel scam. I knew then and there, Trinidad qualifying for the World Cup was a once in my lifetime event. Trinidadian football is like Trinidadian politics, they both have potential for great things, but the greed and selfishness of the people involved, will never allow it transcend the small mindedness of those involved.
I saw an ad on TV for the World Cup in June, and I sighed. Trinidad could have qualified for South Africa … we really could have. Maybe we’ll qualify for Rio in 2014, since we have a talented team that should mature by that time. For now, I will just have to look at videos and pictures in my archives and wonder what could have been.
That match against England was so close, I can still remember the “Trinis” singing “London Bridge is falling down” and the utter silence of the English crowd.
Our glorious draw with Sweden. Who says that there is no honor in a tie? When a rank underdog team, plays a world powerhouse in football, blessed with quality strikers and manages to come away with a draw, there is much honor in that. The Swedes were so gracious in their “defeat”, since everyone concerned considered a defeat for a powerful Swedish side. They were so confident that their team would run rampant over the little island side.
In the end, there was only euphoria from one team and utter shock and awe from the other
Then after the draw with Sweden, there was the impromptu parade and fete in the middle of Dortmund. Where else can you find that, except for the World Cup??
Ah how I will miss Germany 2006 and what could have been for South Africa 2010 … maybe Trinidad will make 2014!
