THE “Reggae Boyz” of Jamaica lit up the World Cup finals in France in 1998 with their devil-may-care attitude and drum-beating supporters, and it is the “Soca Warriors” of Trinidad & Tobago who will attempt to do the same in Germany next year. Only this time, England will be aiming to spoil their party.
It was the draw that the twin-island nation wanted, with most of their players earning their livings in the lower leagues in England and Scotland, and it was greeted with wild scenes in Port of Spain, the capital.
Back in the UK, the players were equally happy. “I’m buzzing,” Shaka Hislop, the West Ham United goalkeeper, said. “This was just what we wanted because so many of us play over here. I’m looking forward to it already.”
Chris Birchall, the Port Vale midfield player, gave warning that the match on June 15 might not prove as easy for England as many might expect. “It’s like living a dream,” he said. “I don’t think that many people knew about us before but we have caused a few upsets and people are now taking us seriously.”
Sven-Göran Eriksson will not have to travel far to check out the Warriors before the teams meet in Nuremburg though it remains to be seen what he makes of having to visit Dundee, Falkirk, St Johnstone and Wrexham. At least he should know about Dwight Yorke, 34, the former Manchester United striker, who is now playing in Sydney.
Trinidad & Tobago qualified the hard way, negotiating a programme of 20 matches before finally securing their place with a 1-0 win away to Bahrain which gave them a 2-1 aggregate victory in the Asian-Concacaf play-off. With only 1.07 million people, they will be the smallest nation to compete in a World Cup finals.
The heavy Dutch coaching influence in Germany will be evident in the Warriors camp, too. Leo Beenhakker, 63, the former coach of Real Madrid, Ajax and Holland, took over as Trinidad stumbled through their early matches. His cool head helped organise a team that had proved difficult to shape into a cohesive unit.