I didn’t make it to either Germany in 2006, or South Africa this year, but the atmosphere was exhilarating nonetheless. I am referring to Sunday’s opening of the Fifa Women Under-17 World Cup 2010 tournament at the Hasley Crawford Stadium in Port-of-Spain. Despite gossip that behind the scenes there was considerable “backstage” chaos, especially at the Hyatt Regency base, on the surface at the Stadium almost everything seemed ship shape. I say almost because someone should have told me to take an umbrella into the covered stands as the roof began leaking with the coming of a brief shower.
Camaraderie was very much alive between Nigerian and local supporters, with many locals waving Nigerian flags, and the visitors reciprocating during our game against Chile. The parade of the 16 nations participating in the tournament was a unique affair as the national flags were borne by moko jumbies. Apparently Best Village jefe Norvan Fullerton and Michel Lucien were in charge of a very entertaining multi-cultural presentation between games, consisting of the T&T Defence Force Steel Orchestra, Rosalind Gabriel band, Shiv Shakti, Malick Folk Performers and Maximus Dan. The entire performance was short and sweet, lasting some eight-ten minutes.
At the end of a very enjoyable evening, T&T Soca Warrior princesses put the hurt on their Chilean opponents, creating history in the process by becoming the first national football team to ever win a final round game in Fifa World Cup competition. With three points in the bag from Sunday’s win, the girls suffered a 1-2 loss against Nigeria last Wednesday, at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella.
This means it’s do-or-die, must-win on Sunday evening when they play their third qualifying game against Korea DPR. They need all the support they can get, so you people who were at the Stadium on Sunday, why not make a trip down south to big up our talented, hard-working Soca Princesses?