Delusions of grandeur.
By: Fazeer Mohammed (Express).
Maybe the despair would not be so intense if we hadn't entertained delusions of Korean grandeur in the first place.
Optimism is one thing, but in a country where robber talk is the order of the day, the danger is that we, or more importantly those involved in any challenging endeavour, start believing all the bravado about shocking the world, taming the lions, killing the giants and that sort of hyperbole.
Maybe it works in politics, where charisma and mamaguile are often enough to pull off victory at the polls, but in the unforgiving world of international sporting competition, imparting as much positive spin as possible ahead of the real thing won't disguise the long-hops and donkey-drops that well-drilled opponents will be only too happy to hit out of the ground.
Well, at least we weren't hit for six, but Trinidad and Tobago's experience of the 2007 Under-17 World Cup emphasised in embarrassingly sharp detail just how far we are from being regarded as anything other than an ill-equipped pirogue in the churning, restless ocean of world football.
Anyone seriously expecting us to avoid being swamped by the towering waves generated by far more accomplished foes really has no business charting the way forward to a greater degree of competitiveness, for they are living in a fool's paradise.
Part of the problem with trying to make meaningful progress around here is that hardly anyone in a position of real authority is prepared to say it as it is. Some 45 years after achieving political independence, we are still very much like children who must be coaxed and cajoled into action. We love to hear how talented we are and how it's only a matter of time before we start chopping down the big boys of the global stage.
Yet when those unfounded expectations fall flat, there is no sincere attempt at reconciling sugar-coated anticipation with stomach-churning reality. It therefore should be no surprise to anyone with even a fairly decent memory to recognise that Anton Corneal's comments after last Sunday's hammering against a relaxed German side is no different from the utterings of Bertille St Clair 16 years earlier.
In buoyant spirits as the first Trinidad and Tobago team to qualify for the finals of a global football tournament, the squad led by Dwight Yorke travelled to Portugal for the 1991 Under-20 World Cup full of hope of making an immediate impact. After three increasingly bitter doses of reality (0-2 to Australia, 0-6 versus Egypt and 0-4 against the Soviet Union), coach St Clair's unexpectedly frank assessment of the entire experience was that his players just weren't prepared for the standard of play they encountered on the Iberian Peninsula.
So you see, nothing has changed and, yet again, we in the media have been found wanting when it comes to providing cold, clinical analysis in the face of all the baseless outpourings of players and officials alike in the lead-up to the campaign in South Korea. Where were the counterpoints to outlandish suggestions that we had a good chance of getting into the knockout phase of the competition? When the coach or manager said he expected us to do well, did anyone press the issue for clarification as to what "well" meant? Or is it that we did not wish to be seen as pulling down our boys in their moment of glory or to be lambasted as unpatriotic for daring to suggest that the calibre and pedigree of our Group F opponents meant that we would be very lucky not to be leaking goals through a suspect defence?
In the first place, there was no basis on which to build grandiose expectations. Our combined record from three previous World Cups (1991 U-20 in Portugal, 2001 U-17 at home and the 2006 senior event in Germany) is: played - 9, drawn - 1, lost - 8, goals for - 2, goals against - 25. In the wake of three more heavy defeats in Asia, the aggregate scoreline is now even more lopsided against us at 3-39.
Another learning experience you say? Then where is the proof that we learnt from those previous forays? Again, this is a situation crying out for informed perspectives, not criticism for criticism's sake by people with an axe to grind or who want to position themselves for a work, but a thoughtful, impartial analysis with practical recommendations for remedial action.
Apologists can find consolation in observing that many countries much bigger than us don't even get onto the world stage, or that nations with respectable reputations are routinely eliminated in the first phase of World Cup finals, just as we have been in our journeys to four different Big Yards.
Even in this flag-waving season, we need to stop deluding ourselves and own up to our many shortcomings, in sport as in life. Yes, we are thankful that such a tiny state has made it to four global football finals in 16 years, but isn't it time to stop patting ourselves on the back and really get down to the business of tilling the soil and sowing seeds of greater discipline and commitment, to say nothing of a work-rate and fitness levels that have been exposed as critically deficient?
Maybe we can make it one day if we try. That one day will remain very far away, however, unless we are prepared to dig deep instead of being contented with scratching the surface.
fazeer2001@hotmail.com
