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Chris Birchall sparked wild celebrations in Trinidad - and bleary eyed ones in Stafford - after scoring a spectacular goal to keep the Caribbean nation in with a chance of making next summer's World Cup finals in Germany.


The Port Vale winger blasted a 77th-minute equaliser to give Trinidad and Tobago a 1-1 draw in the home leg of their World Cup play-off against Bahrain in the early hours of Sunday morning. Their fate will now be decided in the second leg in Bahrain on Wednesday and though Trinidad will be slight underdogs, Birchall's 20-yard strike has given his adopted country a lifeline as they attempt to make the World Cup finals for the first time in their history.

The 21-year-old was watched in Port of Spain by dad Phil and mum Jenny, while elder brother Simon, aged 23, attempted to follow the game from the family home in Stafford.

Chris has described his Trinidad call-up and World Cup campaign as being like a dream - and Simon had the same experience after nodding off in front of the television and being woken up by a call from his brother.

Simon said: "The game wasn't televised and there wasn't a radio connection so I was having to 'watch' it on teletext.

"I fell asleep and woke up when Chris called at about 1.15am. He sounded a bit down and then the phone cut off, so I didn't know what had happened.

"I thought he must have been booked, which would mean he would miss the second leg. But when he called back he told me had scored, he was just a bit disappointed Trinidad hadn't won.

"It is too close to call now. But it has been so close for them all the way through, such as when they came from behind to beat Guatemala and then beat Mexico when they had to."

Dad Phil has flown over to Bahrain to watch Chris in action in the second leg, but mum Jenny was due back in Stafford today.

Chris qualifies for Trinidad as his mum was born there before returning to England aged 18.

He had never been to Trinidad before he was selected for the first of his 13 caps this summer - becoming the first white player to represent the country for 60 years.

Simon added: "It was a proud moment for mum to see Chris playing for the country of her birth and now he has this chance to play for them in the World Cup finals.

"It is just fingers crossed for Wednesday now. The game is on Eurosport and starts about 4pm our time, so we can't wait."

Fans can also try to follow the 90 minutes, plus possible extra-time and penalties, on teletext - but Simon wouldn't recommend it.