Trinidad & Tobago World Cup 2006 Team Profile

Mark McQuinn reports.

Trinidad & Tobago Kit 1 Copyright © Soccerphile	Trinidad & Tobago Kit 2 Copyright © Soccerphile

Ranked 47th by FIFA, first-time finalists Trinidad and Tobago will do well make it through the group stages. However, while all their group opponents are higher ranked – England (10), Sweden (18) and Paraguay (33) – none will strike fear into the Soca Warriors hearts, after they came through a gruelling qualifying campaign, which saw them down and almost out, with one point from the first three matches of the Final Qualifying group in the CONCACAF section.

The arrival of new coach, Leo Beenhakker then sparked a revival based on greater self-belief and better organisation, leading to the securing of qualification in a dramatic two-legged play off against Bahrain.

A side, with plenty of flair and pace, Trinidad and Tobago are likely to cause problems in defence for their opponents through Stern John, who was second top scorer in the CONCACAF qualifying section, with 12 goals, and Dwight Yorke, who scored regularly in the English Premiership throughout an illustrious career and at 34 is still capable of finding the net at the highest level.

Experience in the form of the coach and a backbone of seasoned professionals, including British-based trio Shaka Hislop, Dennis Lawrence and Russell Latapy, as well as John and Yorke, is thus a key plus factor for Trinidad and Tobago. Talented younger players, such as midfielders Carlos Edwards of Luton Town and Chris Birchall of Port Vale, as well as Kenwyne Jones, the Southampton forward, may also catch the eye, though whether their efforts will be enough to see Trinidad and Tobago through to the second stage remains to be seen.

Background Information

Located off the northeast coast of Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago is the largest producer of petroleum and natural gas in the Caribbean, has a growing tourism sector, based mainly in Tobago, and boasts the world’s largest natural reservoir of asphalt, in the form of Pitch Lake on its south-western coast. With a population of around 1.3 million, the smallest to qualify for the World Cup Finals, people in Trinidad and Tobago are hoping that the performance of the football team in Germany will be enough to rank them alongside other world class Trinbagodians in the sports and cultural fields, including cricketers Sir Learie Constantine, Brian Lara and Sonny Ramadhin, Olympic 100 metre Gold Medallist, Hasely Crawford, the Nobel and Booker prize winning writer, V.S. Naipul and musicians, such as Slinger Fransisco (The Mighty Sparrow) and Andre Tanker.

Britain took over Trinidad as a possession in 1802 and, after Tobago was formally ceded twelve years later, ruled the islands until 31st August 1962, when independence was achieved. This interlinked history, coupled with the number of Trinbagonians who play, or have played, in the English and Scottish leagues, makes the game against England in Nuremberg on June 15th a special occasion.

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association was founded in 1904 and affiliated to FIFA in 1964. Though this is the first-time they have made it to the World Cup Finals, the injustice that caused Trinidad and Tobago’s failure to qualify for the 1974 Finals in Germany still rankles. Only one country qualified from the CONCACAF region at that time and after cruising through the First Round group stage, Trinidad and Tobago had to contend with Haiti, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and the Netherlands Antilles for a place in the finals. The matches were played in Haiti and the bald facts are that Trinidad and Tobago finished second to the hosts and had the best goal difference in the group. A 4-0 drubbing of Mexico showed the quality of that Trinidad and Tobago team, which would have been on the plane to Germany had they managed to draw or beat Haiti. Instead the game finished 2-1to Haiti after a series of bizarre decisions by the match officials, all to the detriment of Trinidad and Tobago. Subsequently, Jose Enrique, the Salvadoran referee and James Higuet, the Canadian referee’s assistant were suspended by FIFA. Trinidad and Tobago dominated the game from start to finish, had four goals disallowed and hit the post. The fact that every Trinidad and Tobago player later got a gold watch from the then President of Haiti, ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier was little consolation.

Qualification for the 1990 Finals was also within Trinidad and Tobago’s grasp, but slipped away in the final match against the USA in Port of Spain on 19th November 1989, when a tame shot from the USA’s Paul Caliguiri somehow found the net for the only goal of the game; one which sent the North Americans to Italy along with Costa Rica, when a victory would have taken Trinidad and Tobago there. The passion for football in Trinidad and Tobago is evidenced by the fact that the estimated attendance that day was around 50,000, in a stadium where the official capacity was 32,000.
Those heartbreaks can now be pushed aside as Germany 2006 approaches.

Road to Germany - Overview

After strolling past the Dominican Republic 6-0 on aggregate in Stage 1 of the qualification process, Trinidad and Tobago were drawn with Mexico, St Vincent/Grenadines and St Kitts and Nevis In Second Stage Group 3. Since the top two qualified for the third and final stage, comprehensive defeats against Mexico (1-3 at home and 0-3 away) were not that damaging. Some fans and sections of the media were, however, worried at the ease with which Mexico won the two games. Mexico largely controlled the match in Port of Spain and missed several chances in the second half, when leading 2-1, before sealing victory with 10 minutes to go, through an Arellano strike and dominated the game in Mexico, as the 3-0 scoreline suggests.

Trinidad and Tobago despatched St Vincent/Grenadines and St Kitts and Nevis home and away to grab the second qualifying place. Nevertheless, the doubts kindled by the defeats against Mexico were amplified in the last match at home to St Vincent/Grenadines, when the visitors were the better side for much of the first half and took the lead soon after the break, only to tire in the last ten minutes. Goals from Hector Sam on 84 minutes and Angus Eve from a free kick at the very end gave Trinidad and Tobago a narrower victory than they would have liked.

The final stage saw Trinidad and Tobago battling with the USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama for three direct qualification places and a play off place against the fifth placed team from Asia for the team finishing fourth. The campaign started poorly in February 2005, when the US won 2-1 in Port of Spain and got even worse the following month, in the shape of a 5-1 mauling for the Soca Warriors in Guatemala. Four days later, a dour 0-0 home draw with Costa Rica was followed by the dismissal of coach, Bertille St Clair. The experienced and enigmatic Rotterdamer, Leo Beenhakker was installed in time for the next match at home to Panama and the remarkable turnaround in Trinidad and Tobago’s fortunes began. Following a 2-0 victory over Panama, Trinidad and Tobago suffered defeats in Mexico (2-0) and the US (1-0) but gave a good account of themselves on both occasions; almost taking the lead against Mexico on the hour mark, through a Dwight Yorke header and fighting hard against the US throughout, after conceding an early goal.

A dramatic home victory over Guatemala in the next match kept qualification hopes alive. Stern John scored twice in the last five minutes to turn round a 2-1 deficit. The game was also notable for Russell Latapy’s first goal for Trinidad and Tobago since returning from a four-year retirement from international football. A 2-0 defeat in Costa Rica piled the pressure on Trinidad and Tobago but another vital goal from Stern John in Panama gave them a 1-0 win and put them in the fourth place spot with just one game left to play. Trinidad and Tobago were two points clear of nearest rivals, Guatemala, who were at home to Costa Rica in their swansong. Trinidad and Tobago’s last match was against Mexico at home; a daunting prospect, given the three defeats they had already suffered against the Mexicans in the qualifying competition. While Guatemala raced into an unassailable lead against Costa Rica, John missed a first-half penalty for Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain and the Mexicans then took the lead after 38 minutes, through Lozano. John then atoned for his penalty miss with an equaliser three minutes before the break and then induced delirium in the stadium on the hour with a long range shot which proved to be the winner on the night and the Play Off place clincher overall.

The two Play Off games against Bahrain were tight and full of incident. Trinidad and Tobago were the better team for most of the First Leg in Port of Spain, but were denied by good goalkeeping and a well organised Bahrain defence. With less than twenty minutes to go Bahrain silenced the crowd with a headed goal, on a rare attacking foray. However, only three minutes later, a screamer from Chris Birchall flew into the top left-hand corner of the net to send Trinidad and Tobago over to Bahrain four days later, for the second leg, on level terms. On a hot night, Trinidad and Tobago lost first leg hero, Birchall early, when he limped off in the first half. The game was never going to be fluent given the circumstances but after four minutes of the second half, Dennis Lawrence headed home from a Dwight Yorke corner to put the Soca Warriors within touching distance of Germany. The stoutest of defending saw Trinidad and Tobago through the rest of the match with their goal intact and the dream had been achieved.

Few qualification campaigns have been as dramatic – one point from the first three games in the Final Stage; a change of coach; trailing 2-1 to close rivals Guatemala with five minutes left before winning; trailing 1-0 to Mexico, who had beaten them three times already in the qualifiers, before recovering to win 2-1; having to win away in the second leg of the Play Off on a boiling hot night in front of a hostile crowd in Bahrain, and doing so. After all that, Trinidad and Tobago should have few worries about playing England, Sweden and Paraguay

Road to Germany Results

Stage 1 – Group 11

13 June 2004 Dominican Republic 0 Trinidad and Tobago 2
20 June 2004 Trinidad and Tobago 4 Dominican Republic 0

Trinidad and Tobago win 6-0 on aggregate

Stage 2 – Group 3

18 August 2004 St Vincent/Grenadines 0 Trinidad and Tobago 2
04 September 2004 St Kitts and Nevis 1Trinidad and Tobago 2
08 September 2004 Trinidad and Tobago 1 Mexico 3
10 October 2004 Trinidad and Tobago 5 St Kitts and Nevis 1
13 October 2004 Mexico 3 Trinidad and Tobago 0
17 November 2004 Trinidad and Tobago 2 St Vincent/Grenadines 1

Group 3 Table

Top two qualify for final stage.

Final Stage

09 February 2005 Trinidad and Tobago 1 USA 2
26 March 2005 Guatemala 5 Trinidad and Tobago 1
30 March 2005 Trinidad and Tobago 0 Costa Rica 0
04 June 2005 Trinidad and Tobago 2 Panama 0
08 June 2005 Mexico 2 Trinidad and Tobago 0
17 August 2005 USA 1 Trinidad and Tobago 0
03 September 2005 Trinidad and Tobago 3 Guatemala 2
07 September 2005 Costa Rica 2 Trinidad and Tobago 0
08 October 2005 Panama 0 Trinidad and Tobago 1
12 October 2005 Trinidad and Tobago 2 Mexico 1

Group 3 Table

Top three qualify for World Cup Finals in Germany. Fourth place team qualifies for two-leg Play Off against fifth placed team from Asia for place in World Cup Finals.

Play Off – First Leg

12 November 2005 Trinidad and Tobago 1 Bahrain

Play Off – Second Leg

16 November 2005 Bahrain 0 Trinidad and Tobago 1

Play Off - Aggregate Score

Trinidad and Tobago 2 Bahrain 1

Germany build-up - Main Results and Fixtures

28 February 2006 Trinidad and Tobago 2 Iceland 0
(Loftus Road Stadium, London)

10 May 2006 Trinidad and Tobago 1 Peru 1
(Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain)

27 May 2006 Trinidad and Tobago v. Wales
(Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium, Graz)

31 May 2006 Slovenia v. Trinidad and Tobago
(Petrol Arena, Celje)

03 June 2006 Czech Republic v. Trinidad and Tobago
(Toyota Arena, Prague)

Star Player

Captain and talisman, Tobagonian Dwight Yorke is the player most of Trinidad and Tobago’s opponents will want to shut out. Currently the highest paid player in Australia’s A League with Sydney FC, Yorke was a regular on the score sheet for English Premiership clubs Aston Villa and Manchester United before losing his deadly eye for goal somewhat and moving on to Blackburn Rovers and then, briefly, Birmingham City. When asked why he had paid a then-club record £12.6 million to bring Yorke to Old Trafford from Aston Villa, Sir Alex Ferguson said that he had been the player who had given the Manchester United defence the most problems of anybody in the Premiership when playing against them. Yorke now orchestrates the team from midfield and has been instrumental in bringing on the young talents of Chris Birchall and Carlos Edwards, who play alongside him. He is also still capable of burying any chance that comes his way.

Stern John was a prolific marksman in the qualifying campaign, coming second behind Mexico’s Borghetti in the leading scorer list. Occasionally questioned for playing with a lack of intensity, John is a class finisher and will make any team pay if he is allowed space in the box.

‘The Little Magician’, Russell Latapy (player/coach at Falkirk in Scotland) may not play all the games, but will at 37 use his experience and technique to bring others into play skilfully and as ex-captain help Yorke with organisation and tactics. Chris Birchall the 22 year old midfield player for Port Vale in England is also capable of scoring goals, as he proved with a great strike for the equaliser against Bahrain in the first leg of the Play Offs. Pacy and a good crosser of the ball, these factors are sometimes underplayed in the media in comparison with coverage of the fact that Birchall is the first white player to have represented Trinidad and Tobago for many years. With Yorke and Edwards, he forms part of an impressive Trinidad and Tobago midfield. Carlos Edwards is, like Birchall, a quick midfield player with a great engine. A good 2005-2006 season with Luton Town in the English Championship has seen him linked with possible moves to Premiership clubs.

Coach

The phrase ‘has had a nomadic career’ is often an over-statement when used to describe people in football, but in the case of Trinidad and Tobago coach, Leo Beenhakker, it barely does his wanderings justice. The 63 year old Dutchman has coached at club and international level for almost forty years, Beenhakker is at present that rarest of specimens – someone in football who has no critics. Things can, and probably will, change, given the hothouse nature of international football management, but for now Beenhakker is justifiably lauded as the man who turned around Trinidad and Tobago’s fortunes and got them to Germany.

Beenhakker took over from Bertille St Clair as coach of Trinidad and Tobago after three games of the Final Stage of the Qualifying campaign, when Trinidad and Tobago looked to be on the way out of the competition after defeats against the USA and Guatemala and a draw with Costa Rica. Starting with a 2-0 over Panama on 4th June 2005, Beenhakker then guided Trinidad and Tobago to fourth place in the group and then a place in the finals via the dramatic Play Off victory over Bahrain, after which he endeared himself as a man of the people by stating, I’m so proud of the players and for the people of the whole country.’

Players, fans and the media have all paid fulsome tribute to the professionalism and self-belief that Beenhakker inculcated in the squad following his arrival. Beenhakker’s excellent man-management skills and his shrewd tactics are major assets for Trinidad and Tobago. Beenhakker is likely to chomp his way through a fair number of cigars as he guides his team through the group stages and a successful campaign would add lustre to a coaching career which has included winning three consecutive la Liga titles as coach of Real Madrid, winning Dutch championships with Ajax and spells as coach of the Dutch and Saudi Arabian national teams. Beenhakker’s prodigious work ethic is encapsulated in his statement that, ‘a hobby is only fun if you do not have time to do it.’

Main coaching positions

Assistant coach positions
1967-1968 – Go Ahead Eagles Deventer (Holland)
1968-1972 – VV Veendam (Holland)

Head coach positions
1972-1975 – SC Cambur (Holland)
1975-1976 - Go Ahead Eagles Deventer (Holland)
1976-1978 – Feyenoord Rotterdam (Holland)
1879-1981 – Ajax Amsterdam (Holland)
1981-1984 – Real Zaragoza (Spain)
1984-1985 – FC Voelndam (Holland)
1985-1986 – Holland (National team)
1986-1989 – Real Madrid (Spain)
1989-1991 – Ajax Amsterdam (Holland)
1990 – Holland (National team)
1991-1992 – Real Madrid (Spain)
1992-1993 – Grasshoppers Zurich (Switzerland)
1993-1994 – Saudi Arabia (National team)
1994-1995 – Club America (Mexico)
1995 – Istanbulspor (Turkey)
1995-1996 – Club Deportivo Guadalajara (Mexico)
1996-1997 – Vitesse Arnhem (Holland)
1997-2000 - Feyenoord Rotterdam (Holland)
2003-2004 – Club America (Mexico)
2004 – Al Ittihad (Saudi Arabia)
2005 – Present – Trinidad and Tobago (National team)

Fact File

Trinidad and Tobago Football Association –
Founded – 1904
Affiliated to FIFA - 1964

Contact details - 24 Dundonald Street
Port of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies
Tel – 623 7312
Fax – 623 8109
Email – admin@ttff.com and media@ttff.com
URL – http://www.tnt.fifa.com
http://www.ttff.com

First (official) international match –
06 August 1934 Trinidad and Tobago 3 Dutch Guiana 3

Record victory –
04 June 1989 Trinidad and Tobago 11 Aruba 0

Record defeat –
08 October 2000 Mexico 7 Trinidad and Tobago 0

World Cup Record
1930 – 1962 – Did not enter
1966 – 2002 – Did not qualify

Major Honours
Gold Cup Semi-Finalists 2000 (Lost 1-0 to Canada)

World Cup Squad

Bet on the World Cup

Goalkeepers Shaka Hislop (West Ham United, England), Clayton Ince (Coventry City, England), Kelvin Jack (Dundee, Scotland),
Defenders Dennis Lawrence (Wrexham, Wales), Cyd Gray (San Juan Jabloteh), Marvin Andrews (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Brent Sancho (Gillingham, England), Atiba Charles (W Connection), Avery John (New England Revolution, USA), Ian Cox (Gillingham, England)
Midfield Silvio Spann (Unattached), Chris Birchall (Port Vale, England), Aurtis Whitley (San Juan Jabloteh), Anthony Wolfe (San Juan Jabloteh), Densill Theobald (Falkirk, Scotland), Carlos Edwards (Luton Town, England), Dwight Yorke (Sydney FC, Australia), Russell Latapy (Falkirk, Scotland)
Forwards Stern John (Coventry City, England), Kenwyne Jones (Southampton, England), Collin Samuel (Dundee United, Scotland), Jason Scotland (St Johnstone, Scotland), Cornell Glen (LA Galaxy, USA)

Flights To Germany
Opodo

England Products
T-shirts, hats, caps

"The Onside In-Site" Copyright © From 2000. All rights reserved. Soccerphile Ltd.