Trinidad and Tobago: football with a big smile from the Caribbean 

Lots of football fans will have got their atlases down from the shelves when Trinidad and Tobago became the 29th team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2006. In total the two Antilles islands just off the Venezuelan coast are about double the size of Saarland, one of Germany’s smallest federal states. But they only have a population of one million. The country is, above all, famous for sugar and cocoa, crude oil, colourful carnival, cricket and world class sprinters like Hasely Crawford and Ato Boldon. And just recently for their footballers, who are now one of the acts at the 2006 gala performance.

Here you can find information about the star of the team ...

The Commonwealth state gained its independence from Great Britain in 1962. Since then its footballers have not exactly covered themselves in glory in the diverse World Cup preliminaries. The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation’s (TTFF) previous biggest claim to fame came when they reached the semifinals of the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup – the North and Central Americas Championship. Otherwise, there are seven professional clubs on the islands with bizarre names such as "Defence Force", "Doc's Khelwalaas" and "Police".

The totally unexpected appearance at the World Cup is quite definitely the work of the Dutch star coach Leo Beenhakker. The 63-year-old, who once guided Ajax Amsterdam, Feyenoord Rotterdam, the Dutch national team and Real Madrid to great things, replaced Bertille Saint Clair in April 2005. At that point, T&T were languishing last in the third round of CONCACAF qualifying with just one point from their first three games. Nobody gave the Soca Warriors, as the players are called by the fans in allusion to the traditional Calypso and Soca music, tuppence for their chances..

But under Beenhakker the Reds accumulated twelve points from seven games and achieved the impossible when beating Central America’s high flyers Mexico 2-1 in the final match. After a 1-0 deficit and a missed penalty, two quick goals from striker Stern John ensured that the celebrations in the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, named after the 1976 100 metre Olympic Champion, would go on until the early hours of the morning. The win against Bahrain, the fifth-placed Asian team, was then only the icing on the cake. The steel drums, the poor people’s traditional percussion instrument made out of artistically formed old oil barrels, only very occasionally fell silent in the days afterwards. And the head of the Government Patrick Manning interrupted a speech in order to declare November 17 a public holiday.

The 1-0 win in Bahrain, after the 1-1 in the first leg, almost even brought tears to the eyes of old hand Beenhakker: “When you work in football for over 40 years, then you’ve already had the chance to experience various highlights. That today was definitely one of them,” said the Dutchman. Goalkeeper Kelvin Jack (29) from the Scottish club Dundee whose fearless save in the dying minutes prevented Bahrain scoring the equaliser was singled out for effusive praise: “He has given us a previously unknown professionalism and confidence,” said the coach.

Fans only ever associate one name with football in Trinidad and Tobago: Dwight Yorke. Now 34-years-old, he is considered to be one of the best players ever to come out of the Caribbean. The Soca Warriors captain had his best years at Manchester United, where he was a member of the side that won the Champions League in 1999 after beating Bayern Munich 2-1 in the final. In the meantime, Yorke, who scored 121 goals in the Premier League, has now landed up playing for Sydney FC in Australia’s newly formed professional "Hyundai A League". The club is coached by the German World Cup winner, Pierre Litbarski.

The real star of the team is however somebody else: striker Stern John (29) from the English Championship League side, DerbyCounty. In CONCACAF qualifying, the 1.85 meter tall model athlete netted twelve goals and was second best goal scorer behind Mexico’s Jared Borgetti (14). To date, he has scored 64 goals in 89 games for his home country in international matches. Goal scoring opportunities are set up for the Yorke and John striking duo by the now 37-year-old Russell Latapy (Falkirk). The sensitive and highly skilled player previously appeared in FC Porto and Glasgow Rangers shirts and celebrated a comeback in September after a lengthy international break.

Most of the other Warriors also earn their money in Britain. Along with goalkeeper Jack and Latapy, defender Marvin Andrews (29, Glasgow Rangers) also plays in Scotland. Dennis Lawrence the 2.01 tall defensive giant, has a contract with the Welsh club Wrexham. His headed goal in the 1-0 win in Bahrain has gained him international fame. Almost the whole midfield plays in England: Christopher Birchall (21), Trinidad’s first white international for 60 years, for Port Vale, Carlos Edwards (27) for Luton Town and Kenwyne Jones (21) for Southampton. Some of the others, like Silvio Reinaldo Spann (24) who is at Yokohama FC in Japan and Avery John (30) who has gone to New England Revolution in the US professional league have travelled much further afield. 

Germany can look forward to an entertaining team, whose cheery charisma will probably only be topped by their own fans.  The Soca Warriors’ supporters will certainly create a great atmosphere in the cities and stadiums with their steel drums and hot-blooded Caribbean rhythms.