Lower, Palos, sub.. somebody try a ting and post a lil report for men like myself who in the middle of bumf**k and cyah get no news. Give me something. Men only teasing me with bits and pieces...one setta rice and no chicken... gimme something.
How's Latas play? Starting lineup? Spann, how was he? Yorkie? Difference between 1st and 2nd half? Gimme something
Jes fuh u....
Reach een de people place to watch de game. Settle dong. Some Englishmen (dem game was earlier) askin meh if Dwight Yorke playin..ah tell dem he is captain.
Dey real know Dwight Yorke. Everyting is Dwight Yorke dis and dat. Den ah start to go through de line up....Jack wit Dundee, Dog wit Rangers, Sancho wit Gillingham, Birchall & Edwards wit Port Vale, dey nod dey head wit recognition and surprise when ah mention Stern John.....that's the bloke that played with Birmingham innit?...they asked.
Den ah show dem we #10 and say he does play wit Falkirk. Dey say dem eh know he. Ah say he is T&T greatest ever footballer. Man watch meh wit dis look on he face and say "greater than Dwight Yorke?" Ah say eh heh. Den ah tell he Latas used to play wit Porto de man like he get shock. He say "well...I'll have to keep my eye on him then. But he's such a wee fellow".
Onto the game - 1st HalfScrappy start...den...2 mins inti de game,free kick to Guatemala bout 35 yards out....defender step up and leggo a bullet....Jack well in position to make de save....Dog stick out a leg, ball deflect and into de goal. Ah say.."NAH...not af**kingain!!!"
Wha Dog stick out he foot for me eh know but say wha...YET AGAIN...we dong a goal right at de beginnin of de match.
We still too casual...tryin to find we way. Takin too long to settle. No real sense of urgency. Ah worried checkin de deja vu from Hartford manifestin itself in front meh disbelievin eyes.
Latas play wide on de left....Yorke & Stern up front....Birchall & Whitley (who had a VERY GOOD GAME in my opinion) holdin dong de middle...Carlos wide on de right....Spann right back....Dog & Sancho central & Avery holdin de left back position.
Latas send a chip out fuh Stern who stretch but jes fail to colleck. Guatemala obviously did dey homework because de right back was stickin to Latas like glue everytime de ball come to he. When Latas actually colleck, he was then double & sometimes triple teamed. That of course created SPACE for other players...a luxury we didn't have previously in the other games in the Hex.
Den Stern get a cross in de area, leggo a good powerful header but straight to de keeper, keeper bobble.....Dwight run een to tap home....GOOOOOAAAAALLLLL...or so de 3 a we thought. Man jumpin in de air and ting. De Guaties dem quiet. Den ah hear dey start to mek noise. No goal. Offside. WTF?
Look good to me. The only way it could have been offside is if the linesman say dat Dwight was in an offside position at de moment Stern butt de ball.
We gettin lil more into de game but nutting really substantial. Honestly...we kinda strugglin. Players forcin it. Too anxious. But as the half wore on, you could see us startin to get into our flow.
2nd HalfT&T start off like crackerjack. Man hustlin, TAKIN de ball from de Guaties. Pace of de game drastically increased from our perspective. Where was this all the time?
THEN......................
Through ball to Latas.....Latas runnin direct and at pace have a defender backpedallin faster dan triniman face to face wit a nanny (daz to tell yuh jes how fast de defender was movin). A dip of de right shoulder and shimmy and de defender went so...Latas went over so....cut een....left foot, bottom left corner......
GOOOOOLLLAAAASSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Simply a brilliant goal from a brilliant player. Laraesque in it's execution and sense of timing and occasion.
T&T now storming forward. Crisp passing, movement off the ball. Was this the same team that played the 1st half? Man...forget 1st half...whole blasted Hex!! Birchall get a beautiful layoff and PIPE one from outside the area destined for the top vee. Guatie goalie makes stupendous save!!!
Hold on a moment! T&T players actually SHOOTIN DE BALL?
WTF???
Nex ting I know....like if dat rub off....Scotland take a left foot bullet dat de goalie could only parry. Wait nah! Ah tort yuh could only make 3 substitutions? T&T look like we have 13 on de field...NO LIE.
Den BAPS....clearance out by de Guaties....Sancho misjudge and went fuh a ball dat bounce over he head...dat leave Dog alone wit Ruiz & 2 other attackers. Ah love Dog but dem odds definitely in Guatemala favour. Deft pass from Ruiz, striker crash it home from inside de penalty area.....Sancho a afterthought in de camera picture...2-1 Guatemala. Ah setta singin, dancin, jumpin, huggin all kinda ting from dem Guaties. We had was to tek we licks.
We sub Spann (who had a good game switching the right wing back and wide right midfielder position with Carlos Edwards throughout the game..real nice to see) & bring on Sealey. We tryin but not much fluidity.
Den.....Latas get a opportunity in de area, leggo a left foot shot dat get DEFLECTED BY A GUATIE DEFENDER...ball bounce to Stern who put it in de back of de net. Well we hesitant dis time to call goal and sure enough....linesman flag up. How de fack yuh go be offside if de ball deflect off de defender? Again..only case dey could have is if dey say Stern was offside when Latas tek de shot.
Time passin....Guaties playin it around but man did we ever fight. Birchall lose de ball wit a dotish pass. Run all de way across de field when dey take de trow, hound down de man in possession and tek de ball away. SHEER WILL!
Dwight Yorke. What can I say? LITERALLY picked everybody up and was a TROJAN in midfield. Spraying the ball around, WINNING TACKLES, playing 1 2's with Latas...EVERYTHING!!!
85 minutes...man wonderin how much time left. Den....nice T&T attack sees Latas passing the ball out wide left at the top of the area fuh Stern....Stern without breaking stride hits one time inside of the right foot into the far right corner......
GOOOOOOLLLLLAAAASSSSOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!A real STRIKERS FINISH! CLINICAL! Goalie had NO CHANCE! Stern run to the crowd and flikkin sumting off he shoulder as if to say, "de blight gone...I'm BACK!!!!"
Well ah couldn't hold back mehself....get out meh seat, put meh index finger to meh mouth and go SSSSSSHHHHHHH to dem Guaties. Dem was in shock and some start to walk out.
Nex ting I know....Dwight in de area....lob a pass to Stern...Stern chess trap, swivel, turn, shoot....
GOOOOOOLLLLLAAAASSSSOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!But DEN!!!! De picture FREEZE. SCREEN GONE BLANK!!! Fuh about 15 seconds nobody know if de goal score or if it was offside. Den picture come back....we see de whole T&T team celebratin!! Well we gone crazy clean!!! Dem Guatie dem mout long like clarinet. Imagine...dem was 10 minutes away from de World Cup and BRADANNNNNGGG....dey get STERNED!!! Savannah incitin ting by tellin some a dem to shut up and sit dong in Spanish. We padnah hit Savannah a cut eye and he had was to cease and sekkle. I wasn't stickin arong fuh no bottle peltin anyway. Note to self....check to see if Savannah and Sam related. De Guatie suporters was decent doh.
We play decent to kill off de game at de end except fuh one part where some defender (tink it was Dog but maybe not) decide dat he want to be Beckenbauer and play de ball out de area nice and constructive like. Nex ting one a dem Guatie get a chance which he shoot wide. Can we not make anything easy on ourselves?
Final whistle blow and we in heaven. Still cyah believe it. What a game!!!!!
Some post game observations....
Avery really eh able at dis level. He first touch is poor, often trappin fuh de opponent. Dat said...he is the best we have at the position I see to date. He gives his all for sure and is a real fighter. Unless J Llloyd Samuel decide to pull a Latas, he is de best we have dey. I guess we have to find a solution fuh de Costa Rica match because ah tink he get a yellow makin him inelgigble fuh de Costa Rica game.
Dog while he has improved his passing still not comfortable on the ball. I think our best central defensive pairing is Lawrence and Sancho. But Dog have so many intangibles...how can you leave him out?
I really liked how Spann & Edwards switched their roles during the match. Spann sometimes plays a bit out of control and also loses his concentration....e.g. if he doh get a foul call or involve wit some chat either with a teammate or opponent, he forgets his primary role and gets caught out of position. He recovers well but he has to really watch that.
I thought Aurtis Whitley was T&T's most impressive player in the first half. I was surprised when he got subbed at halftime but when I gave it more thought, I understood the reasoning. I would have subbed Avery but that would leave an important position with no cover. We needed to score so I understand Scotland's inclusion. Unfortunately, as well as Whitely was playing...I guess he had to be the one to sit.
Lata's...what can I say? At the end of the game, the englishman came to me and said....He is special isn't he? I was just beaming.
Stern John. I'm really happy for Stern. He took a lot of abuse...from the public, from us fans here, from the media etc. I was one of them. But class is class. Phensic must be a happy man. Meh moms said that Dwight did an interview after the game and said that Stern went to Beenie prior to the game and asked him to please have faith in him. Obviously Beenie did and the rest is history!
All of Beenie's subs were BANG ON! Timing, choice of player etc.
Finally.....strictly from a REALITY point of view...we were fortunate to win that game. 2-1 down with 5 minutes to go....normally you don't win. I don't ever remember any Trinidad & Tobago team coming from a deficit with such little time remaining to actually WIN.
That said, had we lost, we would have been unlucky to lose because we played well enough to AT LEAST draw and really...DESERVED the win!
This game beat back the "Kerry Jamerson" Guatemala game in 1989 at the same venue. More drama, more goals. The best game I have ever seen involving Trinidad & Tobago. We FINALLY showed some of what we are capable of. CONGRATS T&T!!!!!!
