I'VE TRIED to look for some consolation amidst the bitter reality, but there isn't any. Not the fact that Argentina are in trouble and may be reduced to the ignominy of a playoff, or that Portugal, with the world's most expensive player in their line-up, probably won't even make it into a playoff.
None of that can temper the disappointment that Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Warriors won't be going to South Africa next year and our supporters have been denied the opportunity to add their unique presence to the greatest sporting contest on the planet.
Just three years after the Warriors and T&T nationals from all around the globe dressed in red, white and black lit up the World Cup in Germany and made a lasting impact on everyone they came into contact with, we couldn't repeat the trick and now we'll be confined to taking it all in on television.
Our football remained at a standstill-or even went backwards-while our main regional opponents-USA, Mexico and Costa Rica-stepped up a gear, with Honduras filling the breach we left behind. And halfway around the world, Bahrain, at whose expense we became the smallest-ever nation to qualify for a Copa Mundial, are still alive after getting past neighbours Saudi Arabia on away goals and next face New Zealand for another chance to make it to football's biggest stage.
Since the Soca Warriors returned from Deutschland, a supposedly non-existent blacklist temporarily parked up some key players, while others who had the temerity to continue to demand their fair share of all the financial gains they generated on the road to Germany never got a look-in; the game's head honcho, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation's special adviser, better known as Jack Warner, hired a coach who most of the time looked like he'd rather be back home in Colombia; and then at the 11th hour Warner threw one of our finest sons into the fire, hoping against hope that he could work some magic.
The only problem was that Russell Latapy was no longer in the starting XI and instead was calling the shots from the bench and not even the Little Magician could transfer his skill to those under his command.
Just to drive home how Warner got things all wrong was the fact that after our only victory to date in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for South Africa 2010, against El Salvador at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on August 12, there was a 50 per cent increase in the price of tickets for the next home game, which was last Wednesday's clash with the United States.
The only problem for greedy Jack was that four days before we welcomed Uncle Sam's Army, we got hammered in Honduras, which left us hanging by an even slender thread.
So instead of the Warrior Nation coming out in their numbers at the last chance saloon on Wednesday, the fair-weather fans stayed away, while other regular supporters, who would have still paid the previous ticket price of $200, felt it hard to part with $300 for a seat in the uncovered section and kept their wallets in their pockets and used scarce funds for their children's school fees or some other necessity. So the stadium was less than half-full, not exactly the near full-house that should have been in attendance to rally the Warriors in what was already a desperate situation.
And now it's all over and we have failed to maintain the momentum generated by our appearance in Germany 2006.
That's because we, or rather Warner, still hasn't learnt that this is a four-year programme-as so many pundits have preached over the course of so many previous failed qualifying campaigns-that should have kicked off from the time the T&T team stepped off the plane from Germany. And you can't shut out good players and import nondescript coaches, and then when things aren't going good expect to pull some magician out of a hat to wave his wand and all will be well again.
I have to admit that Warner got it right four years ago when he recruited Leo Beenhakker, a coach with a proven track record in international football, a brilliant man manager who got the absolute best out of the players at his disposal. And, of course, back then Beenhakker had Latapy and Dwight Yorke to call on, with Stern John banging in vital goals.
But hiring Beenhakker was a one-off lucky strike for our boy Jack, who the next time around brought in a man who couldn't even talk English and still couldn't speak the language up to the time he resigned or got the golden handshake or whatever last April, when so many crucial points had already gone down the drain.
Italians Fabio Capello and Giovanni Trapattoni went to England and Ireland, respectively, to take up the post of national team manager and the first thing they did was learn to speak English. Not Francisco Maturana, the Warner-appointed ex-coach of T&T.
And now it is left to be seen what Warner will do with Latapy, who tried his best with his back against the wall when the cause was already as good as lost.
In an ideal world, Latas, if he is prepared for the long haul and is looking ahead to Brazil 2014, will remain in the post and start planning now for the many battles to come.
He has some bright young talent to work with like Hayden Tinto, Radanfah Abu Bakr and members of the current national Under-20 squad, along with Kenwyne Jones, Silvio Spann, Chris Birchall and Keyeno Thomas, as well as grizzled veterans who still have some life left in their legs like John, Carlos Edwards, Jlloyd Samuel and Cornell Glen.
But with Warner calling the shots you never know what's next-the money he throws around may dry up and he won't be able to pay the coaching staff, unless he and the Minister of Tickets Delayed by Traffic and Rain, sorry I mean the Minister of Sport, can come to some sort of agreement.
So we'll just have to hope for the best and keep our fingers crossed that we can dance in the streets of Rio five years hence. Stay tuned.