David Vs. Goliath

This is what I said about the Soca Warriors in my column last week. “I am confident that ‘the Warriors’ did us proud yesterday and that they will continue to make Trinidad and Tobago feel a sense of achievement at being competitive with the very best in the world in spite of being the smallest ever country to grace the World Cup finals.” This was written before our first game against Sweden and as our games against both Sweden and England have shown, I was spot on in my assessment of our football team.

It was very clear from the statements made by Dwight Yorke and other players after we qualified for the finals in Germany that they did not intend to be there “just to make up numbers.” The international media and the so-called pundits thought otherwise. A country that was only ranked 47th in the world would never, in their view, be a serious threat to the major footballing powers of England and Sweden. After all, it was remarked we could not even win a warm up match against Wales, far less stay on even terms with the Czech Republic who beat us 3-0.

This view came across in the early commentary on television where it was said the Swedes had us “in school.” Then came a grudgingly given compliment that we were doing “surprisingly well.” It was only after we had succeeded in winning a point in our game against Sweden that the commentator was forced to admit that we had in fact played well and deserved to be on the world stage of football. This was taken into the England game where our Swedish performance was seen as probably a bit of a fluke. Only that this fluke was somehow being repeated against England to the point where the latter were clearly beginning to panic when with less than ten minutes to go they were yet to score.

What the international media failed to understand is that Trinidad and Tobago was a team that is deeply committed. Having qualified for the finals every member was focused on doing the country proud. We recognised that once we got onto that football field it was 11 men against 11 men. We were equal. This was a statement of affirmation of our identity. Small we may be as a country but this did not mean that we were inferior. As Lloyd Best has repeatedly told us ‘we are not anybody’s third world, we are our own first world.’ This was obvious to us all in those two 90 minute encounters on the football fields of Germany. And this is why the entire country has been feeling so proud this past week.

With the exception of Dwight Yorke our players may not have the experience of the Europeans and some teams may have more talented individuals, but our coach Beenhakker and our Soca Warriors came up with a plan to minimise those differences. As has unfolded that plan was to ensure that we get a point off Sweden and England and then go for a win against Paraguay. With five points we would get into the second round. One does not have to win every game in the first round to advance to the second, one just has to simply play a smart game.

And that is what we did. So the emphasis was on defence with the use of the counter-attack to put the opposing side under pressure and possibly score thus getting three points. Beenhakker knew that if we became too attacking we would have been in difficulty against two teams that possess quality goal scorers. And so we allowed them to play to their strength — we let them attack. It was classical “warfare” and the “Soca Warriors” executed it exceedingly well. Remember the Second World War when the Soviet Union allowed Hitler’s army to invade Russia and then when they ran out of steam (in this case — food), the Soviet Army counter-attacked and defeated the better equipped Germans. The same happened in the Vietnamese war against the Americans. A less equipped, weaker force can defeat a more powerful one if one uses the right tactics.

And so we defended and as these countries with attacking power sent wave after wave of attacks against us and as we repelled each one they became frustrated and “lost it.” It was a similar tactic as Mohammed Ali’s “rope a dope” against the stronger George Foreman in what many regard as one the greatest heavyweight fights ever. Foreman’s strength became his weakness and Ali counter-attacked brilliantly. That we were successful showed on the faces of the Swedish team at half-time and the English as well.

It is difficult to fault Beenhakker since he has done such a wonderful job since becoming our coach a year ago. Indeed, I do not think we would have done what we have had it not been for his technical ability and his tactical skill. But I do think that if Russell Latapy had come on in the last 15 minutes it would have given us that bit of extra experience and skill that would have enabled us to continue to keep focus and shape — two critical factors in keeping the English out. I don’t think that we can make too big an issue of it however, and there was also the foul by Crouch on Brent Sancho — the one that the referee did not blow his whistle for — that led to the first critical goal. We may still qualify for the second round, but our chances are slimmer now that we did not get a point in the England game and Sweden beat Paraguay. Once again I expect a very good showing by our team on Tuesday against Paraguay. And whether or not we do get to the second round the “Soca Warriors” have made a very definite statement in Germany. We are not to be taken for granted by anybody!

The question that we must now be focusing on is the planning that is required to build on our achievements in World Cup 2006. We must start the preparation from now to ensure that this was not a one-night stand, as great a one as it may have been. There was an article in the Jamaican press the other day and which was republished here, in which the writer lamented the fact that Jamaica was not in Germany. He attributed this to the fact that after Jamaica got to the finals in 1998 the football structure fell apart. This is what sets the really great footballing countries apart from the rest. They produce teams good enough to make the finals each time.

Now Trinidad and Tobago may not be able to produce winning teams each and every four years that the World Cup comes around but we can make sure that we do the very best possible. And this can only happen if we plan properly. We have the advantage of being blessed with the financial resources to have the right technical staff at all levels of the game — from schoolboys to our professional league. Will we get it right or will our football degenerate as various corbeaux circle to eat from the meat of our performance in Germany? We shall see.

One last point must be made and it is historical. Tomorrow we commemorate Labour Day June 19 . Of course all roads lead to Fyzabad because that is where the general strike began on June 19, 1937 to pay our respects to the workers of that era who took courage in their hands and like our footballers — against all the odds —won tremendous victories. And guess what Butler called the workers of 1937? The Warrior Workers! Yes! Our Soca Warriors are the descendants of the Warrior Workers of 70 years ago!