Warriors pumped for Paraguay

Although Trinidad and Tobago’s football team captain Dwight Yorke has expressed his disappointment at not making the English panic for more than 83 minutes of the game last Thursday he told world media the squad was all pumped up for their match against Paraguay tomorrow.

“It’s a pity but it’s a performance we can be proud of. We thought we did enough to get a point out of it. I am sure they (England) will do that and beat Sweden for us and we have to get the job done versus Paraguay,” Yorke said in a report on the TTFF website.

“We probably will ask (England) to do us a favour now. The most important thing is that we gave ourselves a chance and people didn’t think we can do that and here we are still biting in there,” Yorke said.

The Soca Warriors are coming off another proud showing in Deutschland which has been noticed throughout the globe.

And aside from the performance which shocked many and caused the English to work down to the wire for their three points, after a 2-0 result, some aspects of the match raised eyebrows not just in the English press but also in the top seats of FIFA.

Just ask defender Brent Sancho, whose name and dreadlocks have grabbed much attention over the 24 hours following the hardfought loss in Nuremberg.

Replays showed that Peter Crouch pulled Sancho’s dreadlocks as he won the header to put England ahead in the 83rd minute, stopping Sancho from jumping. Referee Toru Kamikawa missed the incident.

However, congrats continue to pour in for the TT team from all over with Concacaf general secretary Ted Howard stating how proud he felt over the Soca Warriors’ achievements thus far.

“Congrats on another brilliant effort from TT. I did not see the hair pulling but certainly thought that Crouch had held him down. Nothing can be done about that now except to say that TT is the surprise of the tournament and enormous credit to all for preparing the team so thoroughly. You have made Concacaf proud,” Howard stated in a message to FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, who is also Concacaf president.

Warner has relayed that he and FIFA president Sepp Blatter felt “TT were unlucky not to get a foul called on Crouch’s goal and that Stern John’s goal was not offside.”

“But we shall live to fight another day and believe me we will fight with all the passion and determination that we have shown the world so far,” Warner added.

FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi also praised TT for its showing in Germany following the loss to England.

“Compliments to your team again. What you have done is the very best promotion for football,” he stated.