26667: Arthur (news) Trinidad and Tobago qualify for World Cup Finals for first time (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

Soccer: Caribbean team makes it to Germany in 2006

Postà le Thursday 17 November 2005

- Trinidad and Tobago beat Bahrain to qualify for World Cup Finals for first
time

The government of Trinidad and Tobago has declared a national holiday, after
the national team beat Bahrain 1-0 to qualify for the finals of the World Cup
for the first time ever. Instead of going to work, the government called on
citizens to go to the airport to welcome the triumphant team home

There was dancing in the streets of Trinidad and Tobago after the team
qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. In the capital, Port of Spain, people
waved national flags and danced alongside steel-band and percussion sections to
celebrate the historic victory.

Dennis Lawrence, the 6ft 7in defender who plays for Wrexham in the English
league, headed in Dwight Yorkeâs corner 49 minutes into the second leg of a
play-off against Bahrain in Manama to secure a 2-1 aggregate victory for the Soca
Warriors.

The Caribbean nation will be the smallest competitior in Germany with a
population of around 1.3 million

After the game, Dwight Yorke, the 34-year-old former Manchester United
striker, who now plays for Sydney in Australia, said, "I donât know how to describe
my feelings and I donât know what to say. I must phone my mother first because
she is back in Tobago and she will be going crazy about this. After that, I
will have to enjoy a party."

Manno Sanon, the star player from the Haitian national team that contested
the 1974 World Cup Finals in what was then West Germany, spoke of his delight at
Trinidad and Tobagoâs qualification. Sanon said, "I watched the game live on
television with a group that included someone from Trinidad, and all of us
were rooting for Trinidad to win."

Sanon, who scored in Haitiâs first game against Italy in the 1974 tournament,
says that the 2006 finals will be a stiff test for the Trinidad and Tobago
team. "Itâs going to be hard for them there in Germany. We going to have to wait
and see in what group they will be drawn."

He hopes that the Trinidad and Tobagoâs success in qualifying may have a
positive spin-off for the game in Haiti, "I hope that the people who are in charge
in our country will take it as an example for a new vision of sport in Haiti."


PS :

"Eye on the Caribbean" is realized by Charles Arthur, and is provided in a
partnership between the Haiti Support Group and AlterPresse as a contribution to
Haitiâs greater integration within the Caribbean region.

www.alterpresse.org