http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_sports?id=161278476Keeping the faith
Fazeer Mohammed
Friday, February 15th 2008 STALEMATE: Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Silvio Spann, centre, challenges Guadeloupe's Vidian Valerius for the ball during the friendly international at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, on Ash Wednesday. In the background is T&T's Nigel Daniel. The game ended in a goalless draw. -Photo: micheal bruce
Don't give up hope of South Africa 2010... at least not yet anyway.
In the aftermath of last week's lacklustre goalless draw with Guadeloupe, one football fan was moved to express his or her disappointment in yesterday's letters page, giving numerous valid reasons why the campaign to get to the next World Cup finals will come to nothing.
Yet for those who have endured what passes for football administration in this country for any reasonable length of time, only the names, dates and specific circumstances of each faux pas or display of high-handed arrogance have changed. Essentially, there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation. We have seen it all before, have boiled over in frustration and braced ourselves for the very worst that could happen.
Most often that worst does come to pass, sometimes spectacularly, as in the fiasco of the overselling of tickets for the final World Cup qualifier on November 19, 1989, and the scandal that unfolded before the eyes of an increasingly disillusioned nation for months thereafter.
But every once in a while, a minor miracle is conjured through the dedication and unyielding commitment of the players and the technical staff. The most famous of them by a long, long way is, of course, making it to Germany 2006 when it seemed all was lost with only four games left in a qualifying campaign that had already taken us through an emotional rollercoaster for more than a year and a half.
One coach was fired after a poor start to the final stage of qualifying, senior players rejected the man first proposed as successor due to his blatantly racist utterings, while the man who finally accepted what appeared to be an impossible challenge took some time to get the team into stride. Indeed, we were within five minutes of being virtually eliminated from the competition when the decisive turnaround finally kicked in.
And as much as our football officials give us more than ample justification to lambast them from pillar to post, let us not forget the relentless and merciless abuse from some of us true, true Trinis in the stands directed at Stern John before he snatched those two late goals, and victory, over Guatemala at the Hasely Crawford Stadium to breathe life back into a dying campaign. We really need to question the ease with which we turn on our people at the first hint of trouble, only to jump back on the bandwagon and celebrate like never before mere moments later. It was the same striker who got the only goal of the game in Panama a month later and then, just four days onwards, sparked nationwide hysteria by scoring twice to take us into a playoff with Bahrain via a sensational come-from-behind victory over Mexico. You could only imagine how the Guatemalans would have been agonising over that final five minutes of the encounter five weeks earlier, even as they sat dejected in their dressing room at the Mateo Flores Stadium in Guatemala City, knowing that the result of the game being played simultaneously in Port of Spain had rendered their 3-1 defeat of Costa Rica as inconsequential.
There was still more than a little drama to come in the home-and-away tie with Bahrain before the nation exploded into celebrations that united the country as never before, or since. But still, it should not be forgotten how many of us had completely given up hope with the team apparently sliding to defeat on September 3, 2005, only to be dancing in the streets mere seconds after the final whistle was blown in Manama on November 16.
None of this excuses the incompetence or arrogance of the sport's administration, but, paradoxically, it is our passion and burning desire for recognition and success on the international football stage that makes it possible for them to continue as they have for so very long. Just when we think we've had enough of this doltishness, the players engineer an unexpected result that keeps us hanging on for the sake of the game.
A lot of people talk about getting rid of the men, or one specific man, at the helm and to hell with the consequences, which would more than likely include suspension from FIFA. But that sanction is the ultimate big stick, because no-one is really prepared to stand up and take the responsibility for us not having even the remotest chance of World Cup glory, all for the sake of making the fundamental change that is necessary for the long-term stability and prosperity of the local game. And so we will continue to lurch from one campaign to another: living in hope, giving up hope and more than once praying for a miracle. It makes no sense that we should endure such tenuous circumstances for so long. However, logic and emotion are different voices and we invariably lean towards the emotive whisper, never mind that logic is blaring out the reality with a loudspeaker.
So, yes, all seems lost when a collection of players of proven quality can't overcome a French island colony that doesn't even compete on its own in World Cup qualifying. With any luck, we'll be anchored in the First Boca of ups, downs, shifting currents and tides for the next 20 months.
Yet just when the nausea has become too much and we're ready to jump ship, five minutes of unexpected inspiration keeps us on board.
