Dwight delighted at qualifying

After a stirring display in the National Stadium, the Caribbean country’s coach and the Sydney FC striker departed in different directions but celebrated in unison. "I’m so proud of the players and for the people of the whole country," said Beenhakker, the ex-Ajax Amsterdam, Feyenoord, Real Madrid and Nether-lands coach who has transformed Trinidad from outsiders to World Cup qualifiers for the first time.

"We knew it would be a hard game and they worked so hard to achieve this success. I think we deserved to win. It was a hard game but we were on top in the first 30 minutes and though we then fell away a little, we still went on to do the job and win. "When you’ve been in football like I have for 40 years, you have many highlights in your career, and this is definitely one of them."

Yorke, whose corner was headed in by Wrexham central defender Dennis Lawrence after 49 minutes to secure a 1-0 win on the night and a 2-1 aggregate victory in the Asia-CONCACAF play-off, beamed with pride afterwards.

"It is history, it is unbelievable," he said. "We were very unlucky not to qualify in 1974; though I was only three years old then I’ve heard all about it, and again 16 years later we were unlucky in 1989 for the 1990 finals.

"Now another 16 years on and we have done it at last - the third time lucky," added Yorke. "It’s a real bit of history and it’s a fantastic achievement for our small nation with such a small population. And it is great for me personally to have come back from retirement to play again and to be going to the World Cup now I am 34.

"To be honest, I don’t know how to describe my feelings and I don’t know what to say. I must phone my mother first because she is back in Tobago and she will be going crazy about this. After that, I will have to enjoy a party." Yorke was not sure if he would celebrate in the Caribbean with his family or fly back to his club in Australia.

He acknowledged there was the enticing prospect of a double reason to party in Australia since the country also qualified for the World Cup finals with a play-off triumph on Wednesday.

But while Trinidad’s squad revelled in their achievement, Bahrain and disgruntled Croatian coach Luka Peruzovic bemoaned their bad fortune and the decisions of Colombian referee Oscar Julian Rujiz Acosta.

In particular, they were aggrieved at a goal disallowed in added time when Bahrain striker Hussain Ali Ahmed flicked the ball away from goalkeeper Kelvin Jack as he threw it up to kick clear. The effort was disallowed, after Ahmed had stroked the ball into the net, for ungentlemanly conduct. "I cannot remember ever seeing a goal like that being allowed in all my years in football," said the Trinidad ’keeper.

But Bahrain’s coach added: "If he didn’t touch the goalkeeper — and I need to check on this when I see it again on television - I think I will ask my federation to protest to FIFA." Peruzovic also complained that the referee gave too many free-kicks against his team during a rugged, tight and dramatic encounter. "I am not a bad loser, but there were a lot of fouls against us," said the pony-tailed coach. However, he also paid tribute to Trinidad’s collective team effort. "They were too strong for us and we just could not play against them tonight," he said.

Trinidadians clad in the national colours of red, white and black overwhelmed the streets of the capital Port-of-Spain on Wednesday, jumping, screaming, and crying to celebrate "I am overwhelmed. This is history — Trinidad and Tobago, we going to Germany, Oh God!" said David Frederick, a 37-year-old construction worker.

Thousands of people left work and school after the victory — many chanting "Germany, Germany, Germany!" and celebrating on nearly every corner in the capital, waving the country’s flag, performing acrobatics and dousing themselves with beer.

Trinidad and Tobago will be the smallest nation among 32 to play in the tournament from June 9-July 9 in 12 German cities.

Some merrymakers gathered in pubs, while motorists punctuated the carnival-like atmosphere by blowing their horns.

"This is madness. I am starting my German lessons now," said Joel Williams, an accountant who was draped in a Trinidadian flag and celebrating on a street corner with a few colleagues.

The twin-island nation of 1.3 million is only the second country in the English-speaking Caribbean to qualify in the tournament’s history, after Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz in 1998.

Trinidad’s Prime Minister Patrick Manning interrupted parliamentary deliberation to congratulate the "Soca Warriors". He promised a "proper" welcome to the 21-man squad on their return home on Thursday.

Nutor Blair, 30, a Guyanese man celebrating the victory outside of a pub and holding a Trinidad flag, said: "I am Guyanese, but a win for Trinidad is a win for the Caribbean."