While the melee for tickets went on from the wee hours of Friday morning, the members of the National Football Team were being professional and were keeping all thoughts on their last training session, the opponent Bahrain and the 90 minutes of their lives from 6:30pm on Saturday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Coach Leo Beenhakker, on a late request from FIFA, had to show up for a press conference at the Calypso Room of the Crowne Plaza hotel along with skipper Dwight Yorke at 11am to address the media ahead of the all important match and soon after had to get his mind in order for a team meeting which was followed by lunch at 12:30pm. In between that, the excitement continued growing at the Crowne Plaza hotel lobby as talks about the match and ticket sales was heard all around and those present tried to sneak up close to their favourite players for photographs and signings.
At one point, during the local cuisine lunch, a young lady somehow managed to get through the doors and came up to one of the tables before Beenhakker had to instantly ask her about her whereabouts.
“Coach all I want to do is wish the team the very best for tomorrow’s game,” the nervous yet smiling long hair fan said and in turn received smiles and quick words of appreciation from Beenhakker and his men.
It was a strong hint that order was in place and that the mental preparedness of the team was being kept in tact by Beenhakker.
A lot of the time has been spent, not just talking about Saturday’s match but also for reflecting on past experiences from hearing about the 1974 campaign, the days of playing football in each other’s backyards to the 1989 experience to going through the tough rides leading up to November 12 and 16, 2005. They were all aware that the final session would not be a rigorous one, as is custom before a match and as such ensuring a proper state of the mind was as important as the readiness of the legs.
“I think there’s a lot that can be said from our younger days from playing football in the yards in Laventille to then reaching to a decent level with our clubs and then having a chance now to play in a World Cup at what is definitely the twilight of some of our careers,” Latapy said.
Shaka Hislop mentioned the fact that back in 1974 while the likes of Franz Beckenbauer and Pele were the stars who youngsters looked up to and in 1989 the Strike Squad possessed different players but yet at the time, there were international stars that home-based players had to look up to, this time around, there are sufficient pros among the “Warriors” that now pose as role models for the T&T youth.
“That’s something that makes us proud and in a sense give us that responsibility that we know we have something to live up to,” Hislop told TTFF Media.
He asked the question on what may have transpired to the likes of Latapy, Yorke and others had the team qualified in 1989, “and now you have the likes of Densill Theobald, Scott Sealy, Carlos Edwards, Silvio Spann faced with this situation. Qualification for them now means more or even just the same as it did for us back then and even today.
He said that strength of the team is really the tight spirit both on and off the field.
“There’s a very relaxed and yet professional camaraderie in the team,” Hislop said.
Apart from the talks, with one session taking place at the Stadium on the evening, the players, including the livewire of the camp Brent Sancho, were all trying to ensure that the fine tuning was being done. English-born midfielder Chris Birchall was even rehearsing the T&T national anthem in his room to ensure that he could get it right with the rest of the fans at the Stadium before kick off. Theobald and Kenwyne Jones will be keen to show their capabilities off.
“This is the biggest stage for us. Look at how the people have responded, the rush for tickets, the adrenalin rush. This is like seeing part of a dream come true and now it’s down to what happens on the field to make the whole dream a true one,” Theobald told TTFF Media.
Latapy, growing up in Laventille, echoed similar sentiments to Hislop and Yorke when asked about sending a message for the country.
“In light of the social problems in the country, the message basically would be to keep the love and to be the Trinidad and Tobago that we remember and grew up knowing. Let is just be one where we can love each other and help each other,” Latapy said.
“Whether we qualify or not, I don’t know how much that will stop the crime which is what we want. But I think over the last two games, we have shown how much as a country that we can come together,” Hislop then chipped in.
“We all want to be successful and we all want to live a very peaceful life. Just keep the peace and that will take us a long way,” Yorke ended.