It’s not over until it’s over says Beenhakker

MEMBERS of Trinidad and Tobago’s football team will be going all out for victory in their next 2006 World Cup qualifying fixture against Panama in Panama City on October 8. And coach Leo Beenhakker and his players will be hoping to have similar support from the fans like what they enjoyed in the last away match to Costa Rica in San Jose earlier this month. The match with Panama is the penultimate encounter in the ten-match programme to win a place for the Germany Finals from the CONCACAF region. A victory then will give the Warriors 10 points and keep alive their chances of sealing fourth spot in the standings and an opportunity for a play-off with either Azerbaijan or Bahrain. 

The presence of the fans backed by the sounds of the Laventille Rhythm Section who came on a charter arranged by CLICO and TSTT boosted Dwight Yorke and his teammates in the dressing room shortly after arriving at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium. “It meant a whole lot to us,” Yorke said.. “It’s always difficult when you play away from home but knowing that you have some of your own fans there with you could make a big difference and we surely hope this continues,” he said. Defender Brent Sancho who was ruled out of the match with a hamstring injury sat for a short period in one of the corporate boxes with President George Maxwell Richards but wasted no time before making his way over to the TT section. There he joined up with CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh players Angus Eve, Nigel Daniel, Kerry Baptiste, Trent Noel and Keyeno Thomas.

The contingent also included cricket star Brian Lara, ex-national football coach Everald “Gally” Cummings and Olympic gold medalist Hasely Crawford.
“It felt like being home for a bit especially with the sounds and the flags around,” Sancho said. The sounds of the steel pan were heard throughout the venue particularly during the last 15 minutes of the first half when TT’s play had the 18,000-odd Costa Rican fans in silence. Beenhakker was the first to spot the fans as he entered the field. “That’s absolutely great. I was already on the field with my colleagues before the warming up and it was great to see all these people with the music. I went back into the dressing room and I said to the players that listen there’s a lot of support from Trinidad and Tobago so in that way when you go on the pitch, say hello and enjoy it,“the Dutchman said.

“And I know that from the players that they enjoyed it very much. It’s always difficult to play in a Latin American country with a  lot of pressure on the visiting team,” Beenhakker said on the Gayelle The Channel cable television programme Spalk on Sunday night. The Dutchman also revealed that TT cannot afford to drop any gears going into the remaining matches against Panama and Mexico. “That’s now the situation. We know what Guatemala have to go to Mexico and normally knowing these Mexican guys and the pressure of the public, they will play to win. Apart from that there’s no doubt that we have to win the Panama match,” he said. Beenhakker was noncommital on whether he would consider staying here on a long term contract and preferred to concentrate on the immediate goal of qualifying for Germany.

But he didn’t count out the possibility. “We have a contract until the last match against Mexico and then we’ll see what happens. It’s difficult to make a plan in football. Sometimes they want to  keep you for three or four years and then in six weeks they kick you out but it’s part of our job. We are working here with a lot of passion and what we see around is everybody is very enthusiastic and the players want to work. So in that way let’s see what happens. The first job is to go for the fourth place now. It’s never over until it’s over,” Beenhakker said. Along with his staff, Beenhakker will continue to monitor the home-based players and will then finalise his team for the upcoming qualifier against the Panamanians.