Hislop: It was heartbreaking!

But then England’s talent came through at the end as Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard scored in the final seven minutes to hand Trinidad and Tobago a 2-0 loss yesterday.

“The game took a similar shape as the Sweden game,” said Soca Warriors goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, who was brilliant in the opening 0-0 draw against Sweden. “I felt again that we put ourselves in a good position defensively. It was heartbreaking to lose it at the end when we did and how we did.”

Packing players deep in their own end and attacking only when a rare chance presented itself, the Soca Warriors frustrated the English and their fans. And held on, and held on.

“The longer the game goes on, we thought we had a half a chance, probably we were just going to nick it at the end,” captain Dwight Yorke said. “It wasn’t to be. That’s all part and parcel of the game.”

Trinidad and Tobago nearly scored late in the first half, but defender John Terry made an acrobatic save at the goal line.

Stern John headed a ball in the middle of the box that appeared on its way into the net in the 45th minute, only to see Terry clear it off the goal line while falling down.

Second-half substitute Cornell Glen got a few good chances on counter attacks but was unable to truly test England goalkeeper Paul Robinson. Then as the minutes ticked away, Trinidad and Tobago just hoped to steal a point with another scoreless draw. Trinidad was outshot 23-7.

“We are of course disappointed, that’s the way it works when you lose a game,” Trinidad coach Leo Beenhakker said. “At the same time, we realise that most of the game was in the hands of England. Most of the time of the game it was for us a battle to survive. ... In that way it was tough at the end to lose the game. But if you saw the whole game it was totally deserved for England.”

Trinidad’s players mixed disappointment with a sense of pride in how close they came to stunning another favourite. And they still hold out hope that they can advance to the second round with a win next Tuesday against Paraguay and some help from England against Sweden.

“We’re happy but at the same time disappointed that after keeping England 0-0 for 83 minutes that we then conceded two goals at the end,” midfielder Chris Birchall said.

(AP)