T&T Look to Shake Things up in Group B by Beating Paraguay
June 20, 2006
After an impressive draw with Sweden and a gutsy 2-0 defeat to England, Leo Beenhakker's "Soca Warriors" stand on the cusp of a dream second round date with hosts Germany -- but will first need luck on their side.
The smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup, the Trinidadians sit third in the group behind already qualified England and second placed Sweden. A convincing win against eliminated Paraguay, coupled with a Sweden defeat to England, is their only chance of survival, although the Scandinavians have the upper hand on goals difference.
So far, the side, which veteran Dutchman Beenhakker has led onto soccer's biggest stage, have surprised with two solid and well-rehearsed performances. As well as keeping their 1.1 million population thrilled, Trinidad's motley crew of mainly lower league players have also showed their potential.
Their chaotic start to the CONCACAF qualifiers was only turned around after the wily Beenhakker arrived to sort things out. The man who led Real Madrid to three consecutive league titles in 1987, 1988 and 1989 then steered Trinidad and Tobago through a successful play-off against Bahrain to secure their first World Cup appearance and his own return after a 16-year hiatus.
Beenhakker hoping for mix of luck and determination
However, the 63-year old, who led the Netherlands into the second round in 1990, would be the first to admit they could do with some of the luck and determination that got them to Germany in the first place.
After a brave performance against Sven-Goran's Premiership-inspired England was only undone by two late goals from Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard, Trinidad should be confident of at least keeping their part of the bargain.
While they will have one eye on Sweden's progress, Soca Warriors' keeper Shaka Hislop has already warned that no one should consider them a pushover.
"Sweden did it at their peril and England came within seven minutes of finding themselves in a very similar situation," said Hislop, who helped West Ham to a mid-table finish in the Premiership last season.
After shaking up England, Beenhakker is hardly daring to dream further. "We still have a small possibility to go through, but we didn't expect to be where we are at this stage," he said.
Beenhakker will look to Stern John and talismanic captain Dwight Yorke to once again carry his side's scoring hopes against the South Americans, who are playing only for pride after being eliminated by Sweden.
The Dutchman gave his side the day off Friday and resumed training for Tuesday's match on Saturday, albeit without defender Cyd Gray.
Gray is reported to have a partial torn ligament injury in his upper leg from the England game, according to a team spokesman and could be out for a week.
Paraguay to look for new start after cup departure
Paraguay will play their last World Cup game before heading home knowing that a new dawn must be faced if the team hopes to challenge in future tournaments. Veteran midfielder Roberto Acuna is just one of the old heads calling for an injection of younger blood to rejuvenate the team after they lost their opening two matches without scoring and crashed out of the World Cup.
"In that way, the team would be able to find renewal, young people who can make a positive contribution to the game," Acuna said.
"Paraguayan football needs to be reorganized, there are a lot of young players out there," defender Denis Caniza added.
Striker Roque Santa Cruz was also unable to fathom why Paraguay could not reproduce the form that secured qualification for their third straight World Cup. "It is difficult to know why we have gone out because we weren't bad in either game," the Bayern Munich forward said.
"The players' confidence was there. The team is sad because we feel that we have done enough in the game."