Russell Latapy's World Cup diary.
(Daily Record).Big Marv took a knock in training but it would take a hurricane to put him out of Sweden opener. WORLD CUP COUNTDOWN: 13 DAYS TO GO... Our doc never worries about the big man - he's come through much worse.We're out in Austria just now, stepping up the football as opposed to fitness training with our first proper warm-up match against Wales to come today.
I hear Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy have both been withdrawn from Mark Hughes' squad, which is a pity because they would have offered us ideal preparation for the England match.
But there's always good players waiting to come in at international level and I'm sure our coach Leo Beenhaker will still be looking forward to starting the business of fine-tuning our tactics before we move on to final friendlies against two more good teams in Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
We're in the same hotel just outside Graz where Rangers stayed a couple of pre-seasons ago and where Gretna, I'm told, will be doing their pre-season in another six weeks or so.
We had our first practice match earlier in the week, against a local under-23 team. It was good just to take to the field against someone different and it feels as if we're all pretty much on a level playing field now in terms of our physical fitness.
Although a lot of the boys are in Scotland or England, the group as a whole is culled from pretty different footballing backgrounds so we weren't exactly all working at the same pace.
But the week in England and the first few days out here mean we're back up to speed.
So much so that our coach gave us a free day and night after Tuesday's game. Leo can be a tough old character when he wants to be but he's also known for not forcing his squads to live under a strict curfew.
You might think that would be taking a risk with the likes of myself and Dwight Yorke having enjoyed the odd night on the tiles in the past but there will be plenty of time for a big night out with the lads when the tournament's done for us.
And believe you me, that will be some night. For now though, it was just nice to get some fresh air away from the hotel, have a nice meal and enjoy a quiet drink with a lazy cigarette!
I'd been in Graz before with Boavista on European duty, so it's a city I know. It's just a bit different this time because they're advertising this fixture everywhere on billboards and TV.
With the good weather and the fact Austria aren't at the World Cup, they're talking about a crowd of 10-15,000 in the Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium.
I guess one of the good things about being lumped at the bottom of every World Cup betting list is that everyone loves an underdog - there's no end to the well-wishing.
We're getting attuned to that side of things now, although I'm not sure many of the competing nations would have experienced the kind of bedlam we had around our send-off from Port of Spain.
I've heard all the stories of Argentina and 1978 and I can now imagine what that must have been like - save for the obvious difference that nobody back home expects us to do anything more than sneak a win in one of the matches.
So, pretty similar, you might say ...
The worst thing about the send-off was that it knocked us back a bit off our original training schedule.
Not that Marvin Andrews needs much to keep his fitness up. He took a little knock in training last week but I think it would take a hurricane to blow him off course come the opening game with Sweden.
He's absolutely fine and to be honest our team doctor barely frets about anything that happens to big Marv these days considering his past.
The reality of what we're getting into is starting to register and in a funny way we're beginning to relax about what lies ahead.
Our first goal, of course, was just to qualify - and having come through the send-off unscathed, our next goal is just to go as far as possible. I know some people in Scotland reckon we'll struggle even to get a goal but on the day anything can happen if we're up to it.
There's no point even turning up if you don't believe you can do something.
I'm quietly confident we will give a good account of ourselves, although I'm also realistic enough to acknowledge England's place among the top seeds - or Sweden's status as strong contenders every time they play in major tournaments.
But if Peru offer much of a guide I wouldn't rule out a surprise against Paraguay.
As Leo said, we have a job to do in Germany to change people's perceptions of the game in Trinidad & Tobago.
Most folk probably see us lying around on a beach, kicking a ball while sipping a beer, but reaching the World Cup gives us a chance to change that view - which can only be good for the younger players.
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