Sidebar

18
Thu, Apr
Match Report
Sweden Trinidad & Tobago
Sweden T&T flag
 

FIFA World Cup™
DateVenueLocationAttendance
2006-06-10WestfalenstadionDortmund, Germany62959


Trinidad and Tobago 0-0 Sweden


Trinidad and Tobago held on for a courageous draw despite playing the whole of the second half with 10 men.

Soca Warriors defender Avery John picked up the first red card of the World Cup after two reckless tackles.

Cornell Glen had Trinidad and Tobago's best chance with a thumping drive that hit the bar, but they were pinned back for much of the game.

Marcus Allback and Zlatan Ibrahimovic both should have done better with good chances but the islanders held on.

The result means that England will progress to the next round if they beat Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday.

While Sweden will be looking to take three points from Paraguay on the same day.

Trinidad and Tobago were forced to make a change before the kick-off as goalkeeper Kelvin Jack suffered a last-minute injury on the way back to the dressing room after the warm-up session.

West Ham's Shaka Hislop was drafted in to replace him.

And he was almost called in to action inside five minutes when Henrik Larsson's fierce free-kick from the edge of the penalty area narrowly fizzed past the post.

The Swedes, who have yet to win since qualifying for the World Cup last October, controlled the first half and looked more assured in possession, making the Soca Warriors chase the game.

Trinidad and Tobago's most likely source of a goal in the first half looked to be from long-range as Sweden pinned the opposition in their own half.

And it was Carlos Edwards' drive from distance that was the best of the Trinidad and Tobago chances.

But Sweden looked the more likely to find the net and Larsson had a header drift inches over after a Freddie Ljungberg cross and Christian Wilhelmsson drove a stinging shot straight at Hislop.

Anders Svensson and Ibrahimovic both had half-chances to make the breakthrough, but the half-time whistle was met with cheers by the Trinidad and Tobago supporters who were relieved not to have conceded.

Their cheers turned to jeers soon after the break as John picked up the his red card when he clattered into Wilhelmsson.

Substitute Glen almost gave Trinidad and Tobago a shock lead when Cornell Glen thumped a drive off the bar while at the other end Hislop superbly kept out an Ibrahimovic volley.

Sweden became increasingly frustrated and the Trinidad and Tobago players stood firm to repel the Swedes' constant attacks.

Marcus Allback should have given Sweden the lead 10 minuted before time but Hislop again pulled off a fine save to keep the score level.

But the Caribbean side picked up an historic point on their World Cup debut.



Trinidad and Tobago: Hislop, Avery John, Sancho, Lawrence, Gray, Birchall, Edwards, Theobald (Whitley 66), Samuel (Glen 53), Stern John, Yorke.
Subs Not Used: Andrews, Charles, Cox, Jack, Ince, Jones, Latapy, Scotland, Wise, Wolfe.

Sent Off: Avery John (46).

Booked: Avery John, Yorke.

Sweden: Shaaban, Linderoth (Kallstrom 79), Mellberg, Lucic, Edman, Ljungberg, Alexandersson, Anders Svensson (Allback 62), Wilhelmsson (Jonson 78), Ibrahimovic, Larsson.
Subs Not Used: Alvbage, Andersson, Elmander, Hansson, Isaksson, Nilsson, Rosenberg, Stenman, Karl Svensson.

Booked: Larsson.

Att: 65,000.

Ref: Shamsul Maidin (Singapore).

Fifa man of the match: Dwight Yorke.

LINEUP
1.Neil Hislop
8.Cyd Gray
3.Avery John Yellow Card 15 ' Yellow Card 46 '
6.Dennis Lawrence
5.Brent Sancho
7.Christopher Birchall
11.Carlos Edwards
18.Subbed outDensill Theobald
 Subbed in 66' Aurtis Whitley
19.Dwight Yorke (capt.) Yellow Card 74 '
14.Stern John
12.Subbed outCollin Samuel
 Subbed in 52' Cornell Glen
SUBSTITUTES
9.Aurtis Whitley
13.Cornell Glen
22.Clayton Ince
21.Kelvin Jack
4.Marvin Andrews
17.David Charles
2.Ian Cox
10.Russell Latapy
15.Kenwyne Jones
20.Jason Scotland
16.Evans Wise
23.Anthony Wolfe
COACH
 Leo Beenhakker
SUBSTITUTIONS
52'Subbed outSubbed inCornell Glen for Collin Samuel
66'Subbed outSubbed inAurtis Whitley for Densill Theobald
YELLOW CARDS
15'Yellow CardAvery John
46'Yellow CardAvery John
74'Yellow CardDwight Yorke