It was a dream come true, says Cox
Gillingham FCDefender Ian Cox talks about his World Cup qualification experience before looking ahead to Saturday's match with Colchester United.
Ian Cox and Brent Sancho became the first Gills players to qualify for the World Cup when Trinidad & Tobago reached Germany 2006 with a 1-0 win over Bahrain. Cox played his part in that game coming on for Luton Town midfielder Carlos Edwards for the remaining seven minutes of the game.
Speaking about that fantastic night at the National Stadium in Manama, Bahrain, Cox said: "It was an amazing experience and a life long dream come true. At the final whistle it was unbelievable, the whole euphoria of it all, seeing grown men breaking down and crying with joy and excitement.
"A lot of the players like Shaka Hislop and Dwight Yorke, have been playing for a number of years and to achieved this at the latter stage of their careers is ideal."
Cox was asked how he thought the Soca Warriors would fair in the finals in Germany next year. He said: "It's not going to be easy because you are playing with the cream of the crop - the best players in the world.
"In the same vain though you want to go out and give a good account of yourselves."
Cox is keeping his feet firmly on the ground though, and knows that he needs to perform for the Gills to give him self a good chance of making the squad for the finals.
"It's a while away yet and I have to knuckle down here. My feet are firmly on the ground. From the first minute I got back my wife said 'here you are, look after the girls' so it's not been a problem keeping my feet on the ground.
"These experiences only come along once in a while so you have to savour the moment."
Back to the bread and butter stuff of Coca-Cola League One football Cox will be helping the Gills overcome Colchester United at Layer Road tomorrow.
He said: "This Saturday will be a good test for us and we will need to go there and give a good account of ourselves like we have been in the two games prior.
"I would like to think that we are slowly turning the corner but you do need a few games before you can start judging those sorts of things.
"I think the performance on Saturday was good. It wasn't the most spectacular but we were pretty solid and we basically ground the three points out, which was important because we needed it for confidence.
"Tuesday we were disappointed with the result especially being two - nil up and pretty comfortable. But two lapses and they got themselves back in the game. To go out on penalties was a little bit disheartening."
Ian Cox
Brent Sancho celebrates with Kenwyne Jones
