Trinidad and Tobago received nods of approval from three of the most famous sons of Germany in Leipzig on Friday as the Grand Draw for the 2006 World Cup concluded at the Messe.
Former winning captain and coach and now President of the World Cup Organizing Committee Franz Beckenbauer was making no qualms about it as he congratulated FIFA Vice President Jack Warner on T&T’s qualification at the FIFA banquet on the eve of the draw.
Warner, a special advisor to the TTFF, was attracting approaches and hugs from all directions as dignitaries and guests, and several big wigs in the football world acknowledged Warner and T&T’s success in getting to its first ever World Cup as the smallest country to ever achieve such a feat.
When FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced all 32 qualified teams during his address, Trinidad and Tobago was the last to come out his mouth and there were quick shouts, extra applauses and turned heads towards Warner’s table. The Arouca-resident was definitely going through an evening that made him feel proud to be a “Trini”. The members of the T&T contingent were also graced at their table by the presence of head coach Leo Beenhakker who also drew hugs and handshakes from several guest, coaches and other officials.
And Beckenbauer paid tribute to T&T’s qualification.
“It’s indeed a tremendous achievement by such a small country like Trinidad and Tobago,” he told TTFF Media. “To now be the smallest country ever to qualify is a major accomplishment and it means now that you are at a level where only the top countries on the world belong. This is the big stage.”
Current German head coach Juergen Klinsmann, a World Cup winning player in 1990, also congratulated the “Soca Warriors”.
“We are all preparing for this tournament now and I am sure Trinidad (and Tobago) must be feeling all the excitement because it’s the first time for them at this competition. It’s a wonderful feeling to be part of a World Cup and I wish them many good things,” the former Tottenham Hotspur striker told TTFF Media. He also expressed satisfaction with his team’s grouping along with Costa Rica, Poland and Ecuador. “I think we got a good draw and it’s on the football now,” he said.
And a former captain, the man who lifted the World Cup when they defeated Argentina in 1990, Lothar Matthäus also felt the qualification was something T&T should use as a stepping stone to achieve further.
”There’s nothing better than qualifying for a World Cup especially when you come from such a small place and had to go through several struggles to get to it. That alone is a big success story.
There were some 4,000 officials and guests were at the Draw ceremony including German Federal President Horst Köhler, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and a host of German and international football stars, such as Pele, Johan Cruyff, current German captain Michael Ballack, as well as FIFA World Cup winners from Germany’s 1954 and 1974 campaigns Horst Eckel and Beckenbauer.
Earlier on the day of the draw more than 300 participants from all Federations of the 32 competing teams, including all of the managers except Argentina’s José Pekerman, discussed open questions on key topics, such as team accommodation, travel planning during the tournament, safety and media planning Representing the TTFF at the three-hour seminar was President Oliver Camps, as well as General Secretary Richard Groden, Team managers Bruce Aanensen and George Joseph and Media Officer Shaun Fuentes.
“It was an excellent workshop and several details were outlined pertaining to a country’s participation in a World Cup. It was especially useful for a country like ours who made it for the first time. Several areas, from team management, to security to accommodation among other things were discussed,” Camps said.