Australian officials Mark Shield, Nathan Gibson, Ben Wilson and Matthew Breeze were recently appointed to the World Cup qualifier between Trinidad & Tobago and Bahrain in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. This match represented a first for Australian referees in that it was a “sudden death” playoff fixture between two FIFA Confederations aiming for a place at the World Cup Finals.
Their appointment to the match only further highlighted the high regard with which FIFA has for our leading match officials.
We chat with the four gentlemen about their experience in the Caribbean :
Now getting to the match was quite a story in itself. Can you briefly describe it?
Matthew Breeze (MB) - It certainly wasn’t a couple of hours. We all met in Sydney, and then went via the west coast of the USA (San Francisco), Canada (Toronto), Barbados and then onto Port-of-Spain in Trinidad. It was 36 hours door to door for me, and we felt less than average when we touched down.
Ben Wilson (BW) - My trip involved about a 40 hour journey each way. Phenergan is a wonderful thing.
The four of you have experienced different atmospheres in your times as referees including places like Europe, Asia and South America. What was the experience like?
Mark Shield (MS, pictured) - The crowd was certainly in party mode both before and after the match. Day’s before the game there was so much excitement in the city of Port of Spain. The crowd was a sea of red as nearly all the spectators were wearing red shirts, hats and supporters flags. The stadium opened at 2pm and it was full by 2.30pm for a 6.30pm kick off. The atmosphere inside the stadium was electric for a sell out crowd of 25,000 they made lots of noise.
Nathan Gibson (NG) - The game had gripped the nation, similar to the build up of Australia’s games. There were street parties – carnival style the night before, which we drove through, and when our driver told the onlookers the ref’s were in the back, suddenly cash was being offered through the windows, they were quickly shut!!! The crowd on the day was great. Of the 25,000 or so only 80 were supporting Bahrain so it was a sea of red. Plus they had the contestants of their “Idol” equivalent doing laps of the track with a microphone revving the crowd, the result was a great atmosphere.
What was the game itself like?
MS - The game was an intense affair obviously due to the importance of the match. There were two good goals and many opportunities for both teams to score.
BW - Once the game kicked off, the pre-match nerves left me and it felt like just another game. I felt that as a team, we had it under control from the beginning and I enjoyed it. However, it was a very close match ending 1-1, so there was no time to relax and I had to have 100% concentration for the whole time.
NG - The game itself went extremely well. Mark controlled it well and the game didn’t have any real “biggies” (tough fouls). At my end all offsides and fouls were clear-cut and to be honest it was a relatively easy game on the line, [I’m not complaining].
In terms of sightseeing what places did you visit before the match?
MS - One of the highlights, other than the match, was receiving an invite to see Brian Lara’s house. He is one of the most popular sportsman in Trinidad and Tobago, so it was an interesting trip up the hill to see his mansion. The rest of that day was spent at a beach about 15kms north of the Port of Spain. It was very difficult to take!
MB - We had the tour through the Port of Spain, saw the main local attractions and spent one afternoon at a nice beach. Aussie beaches are still the best in the world.
Finally you cant go to the Caribbean without having a night on the town describe your last night?
MB - It was pretty quiet. It was nice to have a couple of quiet beers just to wind down after the game and to get ready for the long trip home. We had a very early flight the day after so we had to be in reasonable shape.
NG - We visited a nightclub on the last night, but we didn’t embarrass ourselves by dancing, as we would have been totally outclassed by the locals.