Trinidad Express
Off-tune Warriors must dig deep
Lasana Liburd 
AIRBORNE CHALLENGE: Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Keon Daniel, left, challenges his Bermudan opponent for the ball during their opening 2010 World Cup qualifier at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya on Sunday. Bermuda upset the "Soca Warriors" 2-1. -Photo: Robert Taylor
The Marvin Lee Stadium announcer gave a brave effort as he belted out the Trinidad and Tobago anthem without the luxury of musical accompaniment. I am sure he sounds better in his shower.
It turned to be a fitting appetizer.
Colombian coach Francisco Maturana must have wondered if his orchestra was drunk after a decidedly off-key performance in their opening 2010 World Cup qualifying fixture on Sunday at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya.
Maturana once captured South America 's prestigious Copa Libertadores title and made the globe swoon as his Colombian national team danced into the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. Now, his resume will include being beaten at home by a Bermudan team whose defensive spine had the average age of 32 and whose rotund midsections bore more resemblance to an all fours team than an athletic outfit.
Maturana speaks little English and will need a translator for today's post mortem with Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) special advisor and FIFA vice-president Jack Warner. A poor grasp of Warner's first language might be his sole comfort.
Maturana spared his assistant coach Anton Corneal from the awkward position of representing the technical staff at Sunday's post-game press conference.
In fact, Corneal did not have to enter the press room at all as another interpreter was sourced to facilitate the coach.
Maturana took full responsibility for the embarrassing 2-1 defeat to Bermuda .
"I absolve the players from responsibility and take it all myself," he said, via translator. "( Trinidad and Tobago ) abused long passes It was definitely not the way to play the game...
"The problem was not how Bermuda played but how we played."
Coaches, unfortunately, are not judged on their ideas but on the ability to get players to buy into their philosophy.
Maturana gambled on Sunday by switching from the 4-4-2 system favoured in his opening six matches and the 4-5-1 used against Jamaica to a relatively untried 3-5-2.
There is inevitably the hint of desperation when a team prepares for five months in one formation only to change a week before the first examination. But the thought behind the move seemed reasonable.
After trying six full backs-including a schoolboy-in eight outings, the Colombian seemed to conclude that his employers were hopelessly lacking in that area and attempted to compensate by using three central defenders and retreating wide midfielders instead.
Perversely, it was the senior player one would expect the most from in that formation who dithered.
Carlos Edwards is a remarkable athlete with the innate ability to operate at right midfield and full back-sometimes in the same match. Yet, when team captain Aurtis Whitley winked at him in the first half and pointed towards the unmarked Bermudan left winger Khano Smith, Edwards made a face and did not retreat the necessary distance.
It was the same Smith, mind you, who broke clear to create Bermuda 's opening goal.
Edwards was hardly the only Warrior to fall short of his standards on Sunday but his performance could not be more different from the player who outhustled and outclassed Sweden winger Freddie Ljunberg during the 2006 World Cup.
The Sunderland star improved after the interval but, by then, Bermuda had found a scoreline they liked and were camped in front their own goal.
Maturana countered by trying to compensate for his players' inertia rather than grabbing them by their throats during the interval.
So, promising and ambitious teenaged midfielder Khaleem Hyland was sacrificed for an extra defender to mark a sole striker and wingers who should have been the business of the Trinidad and Tobago midfield in the first place.
The Colombian looks a clever coach but rumours of discontent abound as regards his team selection and he should be careful not to lose authority in the dressing room.
Traditionally, Trinidad and Tobago used locally based players during the early qualifying round-particularly for the away legs-and lanky defender Dennis Lawrence was initially excused from the return leg to conduct personal business in Britain.
But the technical staff is obviously anxious that he remains in the squad as they chase victory by a two goal margin in Bermuda .
Maturana and Corneal previously bragged about their ability to spot young talent from outside the realm of even the local professional league.
But schoolboys Akeem Adams and Jamal Gay have long since been ditched while 20-year-olds Ataullah Guerra and Lester Peltier cannot get a game and the 19-year-old Hyland was his first change on the weekend.
Instead, it was 31-year-old national record scorer Stern John who looked the only player capable of goals on Sunday while the contributions of 30-year-old playmaker Aurtis Whitley and the 33-year-old Lawrence-who recently reversed his retirement-were crucial.
Perhaps Maturana initially underestimated the challenge of his job.
But he is not the only team member who must reassess.
In the 2006 campaign, Whitley's mazy forward dribbles were key to coach Leo Beenhakker's offence. The midfielder's shot off a post against Mexico in 2005 that was duly converted by John was the catalyst for a superb recovery and crucial 2-1 qualifying win.
Whitley created John's goal again on Sunday but his unwillingness to drive forward and help the offence more directly is starting to tell.
Maturana will need his senior players to hit the right notes in Bermuda .
