Savour the moment, TT

With just ten men ranked as 1,000-to-one outsiders, we held back eleventh-ranked Sweden, a feat most TT fans regard as a victory.

Four days after the match, we can still taste the sweetness of our “win.”

Trinidad and Tobago is still aglow from the outpouring of emotion that filled each street and home on Saturday after the final whistle blew.

Taste the sweetness! Lap it up! Indulge yourself!

Whatever happens tomorrow against England, no-one will ever be able to take away this feeling that we now enjoy. Let us savour this moment like a person who is loving as if you’ll never love again.

Expressing this love for the Warriors was Maureen Mark of Belmont watching the match in St James, who had told Newsday: “Win or lose, I’m for my country all the way, no questions asked.” Like many TT fans, she admitted to crying tears of joy for the Warriors.

Fans warmed to the Warriors not simply for the score they achieved but additionally for the wonderful way in which they did it.

We saw the saves of goalie Shaka Hislop, heroic goal-clearances of our defenders like Carlos Edwards, and the daring raid on the Swede goal by substitute striker Cornell Glen who smashed the ball against their goalpost! TT fan Keron Charles expressed it to Newsday by simply saying: “I like the vibes they are giving us.” In the “People in the Street” column in yesterday’s Newsday, fans were still ecstatic about what they regarded as a win for TT.

Fan Sheldon Forde said: “They really played quite fantastically. They worked as a complete unit.” Fan Michael Danpaul said: “It was incredible. Hip hip hooray!” Fan Camille Carmona declared: “The game was totally mind-blowing. Words cannot describe it.”

Newsday has received similar accolades for the Warriors in letters to the editor sent from around the world, from both nationals of Trinidad and Tobago and from new-found foreign fans, including from England, United States, Canada, and Germany.

Meanwhile the international media has swung from demeaning the chances of the Warriors to expressing genuine fascination with their unexpected draw.

We do not know how the Soca Warriors will fare against England tomorrow.

While Sweden are ranked at eleventh place in the World Cup, England are ranked in the top five teams. Moreso Trinidad and Tobago goes into the match as underdogs to the tune of 14-to-one with local bookmakers and 20-to-one with international bookies.

Despite this however let us enjoy the moment when we stood the footballing world on its head, as one international newspaper described Saturday’s result.

So prepare your red jerseys and Trinidad and Tobago flags, and let us once again give our Soca Warriors another torrent of our love to help propel them to success against England. Savour the moment!