Tiny Trini Tops Fellow Minnow Bahrain


Trinidad & Tobago became the smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup finals this week after beating even-smaller Bahrain at home 1-0.

All of Trinidad is celebrating as the small Caribbeam island nation booked its entry into the 32-nation World Cup finals next summer in Germany. Following a 1-1 tie in Port of Spain that appeared to favor Gulf state Bahrain, Trinidad fought hard and hung on for a victory in Manama Wednesday.
The victory launched celebrations that lasted for several days. Thursday was declared a national holiday, and the strains of celebratory soca music are surely still echoing in some corners.
Bahrain looked nervous in the opening minutes, a far cry from their more fluid play in the first leg last Saturday. They settled into a conservative posture that seemed to indicate a desire to play out the nil-nil tie that would send them through on the away goals rule. Trinidad's physical strength and explosive attacks make this a dangerous bet, and Stern John almost finds a way through in the 32nd minute.
Later, T&T keeper Kelvin Jack mis-reads a cross and almost allows an attacker to slip in, but Marvin Andrews heads clear.
In the second half, Trinidad take advantage of a set play to take the lead. Giant Wrexham defender Dennis Lawrence gets up alone in the 51st minute and heads home a Dwight Yorke corner. Now Bahrain is forced to play. They threaten in the 60th, when Isa Salman flicks on to Ala'a Hubail, who completely misfires. Husain Ahmed comes close with a 62nd minute free kick. As time ticks away, a series of Trinidad corners lead to a shoving match and objects being thrown onto the field.
In injury time, Kelvin Jack punts the ball, but Husain Ali Baba reaches around and kicks the ball as the keeper releases. The Bahraini then slots in the deflected ball, but the referee calls it back for interfering with the goalie. Players mob the ref, and minutes pass before order is restored and Husain Ali Baba is expelled. It is the right call, a basic rule of the game is that one cannot interfere with the goalie. In the final moments, Bahrain tries from long range, but Trinidad holds on and wins its first-ever visit to the World Cup finals.
The event is especially momentous because Trinidad becomes the smallest country to every appear in the finals. In fairness, Bahrain would have been even smaller had they qualified, and there is some argument that the inclusion of Kuwait in 1982 and United Arab Emirates in 1990 were more significant achievements. This is because although Trinidad, with about 1 million inhabitants is smaller than those two Gulf states, Kuwait and UAE have slightly fewer citizens than T&T. Therefore the Gulf states have a smaller pool from which to draw from for their national team, even though their overall populations (which include an estimated 1 million-plus non-citizen workers) are larger.
This takes nothing away from the achievement of the Soca Warriors, a sure sign of the maturing of Caribbean football. Certainly, the party that is the World Cup finals will benefit from the inclusion of the enthusiastic Trinidad fans.
Read this article for some sense of how the news was received at home, where the returning players were greeted as conquering heroes. Ongoing coverage at www.socawarriors.net
Everyone is giving credit to Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker, who wisely benched aging star Russell Latapy after a disappointing first leg, although Latapy came on in the 78th as a substitute. Beenhakker, who has coached for years in Mexico and elsewhere, saw his contract end after qualifcation, and its not clear whether the architect of the victory will be at the helm come next summer. Stay tuned.

Posted: Fri - November 18, 2005 at 01:12 AM          

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