FIFA vice-president Jack Warner believes the national community needs to offer more financial support to the Soca Warriors on their way the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
"It's okay to line the streets and jam the airport, but that doesn't translate into dollars and cents, and what the team needs right now is dollars and cents," said Warner.
Warner said that although he and the team would "make out" regardless of the level of financial support: "If we continue to do this thing on the cheap, we will bring this country to disgrace."
Speaking at the T&TEC General Sports and Cultural Club Awards ceremony on Saturday evening, Warner said that the Soca Warriors would need US$15 million to take part in next year's World Cup.
The figure, he said, is a conservative estimate, and would still be the lowest budget of any team in the competition.
However, Warner said that only three corporations had contributed to the venture, and that the financial support from the general public was even less significant.
Warner said that he was grateful for the widespread praise and recognition that the Soca Warriors had received, but feels that the national community needs to step up to the ball and offer more financial aid to the team.
"This is not a Jack Warner affair. It's a national affair, so I'm asking that everyone put a hand," he said.
Warner also revealed that he was very concerned about the future of local football.
"I am very concerned about succession. I am very concerned about what happens after Jack Warner. I am concerned about those persons who aspire, but don't want to achieve. I am concerned about those who look at the form, but not at the substance," he said.
Warner also admitted that he worries about the succession within the national football team itself, pointing out aging players who would soon have to be replaced.
Warner emphasised the importance of having a team ready for World Cup 2010, since it would be the first World Cup tournament held on the African continent.
Warner said that he had "cried like a baby" with the national team in their locker room after their victory in Bahrain, and that he still cries in his private moments because he has yet to come to terms with the achievement.
He said that he does not need any award for his lifelong support of national sport, as the elation and gratitude of Trinbagonians was his reward.
"There's a type of unity that pervades the land that wasn't there before.
And hopefully we can use the power of sport to preserve this unity and return this country to its pristine state," said Warner.
"I look at how the nation was unified and I see the power of sport. I look through history and I see the power of sport," said Warner. "And when I came back to Trinidad and arrived at the airport, and I embraced Mr Manning and he embraced me I saw the power of sport," he said.