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Welsh Walkover

May 27th, 2006 | By: Stacy-Marie Ishmael | 8 Comments »

At the final whistle (with no extra time) : 2-1 to the Welsh.

I maintain that the Welsh didn’t beat us – we lost this match all on our own. At the same time, except for the achilles heel that is our back line, I think the Warriors are looking better and better.

Sitting squished in a corner at the Walkabout in Finchley Road, London, surrounded by a sea of red, white and black, taking notes, cheering Stern John and berating Marvin Andrews at intervals – I can’t think of anything that comes close to the atmosphere provided by Trinibagonian football fans.

Kickoff, and the BBC commentators immediately annoy me with their references to the “Soccer” Warriors. Kelvin Jack is in goal; Beenhakker has opted for a 4-4-2 lineup:

Defenders: Cyd Grey, Marvin “Dog” Andrews, Dennis “Tallest” Lawrence, Avery John
Midfielders: Kenwyne Jones, Chris Birchall, Densill Theobald, Carlos Edwards
Strikers: Dwight Yorke, Stern John

Interesting to note both the red-clad supporters at the Austria Graz stadium and the fact that Kenwyne Jones was playing on the left – where he proved to be ineffective, but more on that later.

We got off to a shaky start in the first half, although Chris Birchall and Carlos Edwards looked absolutely on form. Throughout the game we tended to be stronger in attacking and midfield, and downright appalling in defence, although in the 26th minute Kelvin Jack demonstrated the flexibility and power that might keep Shaka Hislop on the bench, when he stretched to block a Welsh effort that was heading dangerously toward the T&T goal.

It was Birchall who set up Stern John’s goal in the 32nd minute, and the 22 year old must have been generally pleased with his efforts today. His passing was excellent, and none of his attempts on goal were off-target. Unfortunately, none of Birchall’s attempts made it to the back of the Welsh net. Carlos Edwards, playing on the right, had much the same experience. He played a strong attacking game today, but tended to be let down by a flat-footed Dwight Yorke who failed to be in position for several promising Edwards’ passes.

In the first half our main weakness was the left flank, a perennial problem for the T&T team. Kenwyne Jones was consistently wrong footed, and was obviously not comfortable in that position.

More gratingly, for a team known as the “Warriors” we demonstrated a complete lack of aggression, failing to fight to win back the ball when we lost possession and allowing the Welsh forwards into the penalty area with alarming frequency.

The Welsh goal in the 44th minute was the result of a complete defensive breakdown – Jack was caught unawares, Dennis Lawrence having allowed Earnshaw easy passage toward the goal.

The second half was better. Colin Samuel had come on for Marvin Andrews in the 35th minute, and his consistent and powerful attempts on goal had the Welsh backline very busy. Russell Latapy replaced Kenwyne Jones in the 62nd (to loud cheers from the Walkabout audience) – his appearance changed the whole tone of the match. Our midfield, which had been consistent but lacklustre, sharpened up considerably and Latapy gave a beautiful demonstration of his magician’s touch when he ripped through the Welsh midfield in the 73rd minute – ultimately for nought, but it was lovely to see the creativity that he brings to the T&T game. It was generally a good performance from Latapy – stunning shot in the 85th, blocked by the Welsh keeper.

I admit to swearing loudly at the Welsh goal in the 82nd minute. The general Trini commentary went something along the lines of, “but what the *censored* happened to our *censored* defence? Like all of them blind or what?”

The backline simply did not react to the left-flank breakaway from 16-year-old Gareth Bale, who then delivered a perfect cross to Earnshaw, who scored the second and decisive Welsh goal in the midst of T&T defensive catastrophe that saw Kelvin Jack taken by suprise for the second time in the match.

T&T dominated in both halves, and the ball was in our possession for virtually all of the second, but we failed to convert our numerous shots on goal and were ultimately let down by our defence.

However, as a team the Warriors are continuing to improve. Time is very short and there is much work to be done.

Next up – friendlies against Slovenia and the Czech Republic. Fingers crossed.

Tags: Friendlies, Soca Warriors, Trinidad - Tobago, Wales

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Comments

By World Cup Friendlies Recap - FIFA World Cup 2006 - World Cup 2006 Blog | May 27th, 2006 at 7:16 pm

[...] Germany 7 – Luxembourg 0 Luxembourg is ranked 152nd in the world and for once those FIFA rankings might be correct. I could list the German players who scored but it might be easier to list the ones that did not. One concern for the Germans is an ankle injury sustained by centre-back Robert Huth. He’ll be examined once the team returns to its training camp in Switzerland. Wales 2 – Trinidad and Tobago 1 Stern John gave the Soca Warriors the lead in the 32nd minute, but Robert Earnshaw scored twice to give Wales the win. It is worth noting that David Vaughan came on for Wales in the second making his international debut at 16 years of age, a record for Wales. He might play in a World Cup in my lifetime. Or not. [...]

Posted from United States

By Andre Sooklal | May 28th, 2006 at 12:07 am

Lets not get all freaked out.
Friendlies are to be taken from a different mind set than that of a normal tournament game.

If we won this game we would have overlooked many things.So i think that Beenhacker is truly a wise coach and i agree totally with his view of the game.
I mean of course we love to win but these friendlies are about fine tuning.
We need to score more
Marvin Andrews is not match fit and (sadly) Spann who is my favourite player for Trinidad is injured.

Don’t let these results disturb you all. This is part of a process. Just be glad we have a coach who understands finding bugs and fixing them and teaching Trinidad to play POSSESION football.
Something unheard of…just over a year ago.

I believe our MAIN problem is that when we have the possesion we are TERRIBLY wasteful and do not score. (Stern John tries hard) but my belief is if we had a top more lethal striker. Trinidad would win Alot more games and we probably would have qualified alot easier.

Posted from Trinidad And Tobago

By Andre Sooklal | May 28th, 2006 at 12:09 am

Fear not soca warrior fans..
what would have been a real sad case is if we WON this game playing like we did.

These are all good things..
even the loss.
I hope you allsee what i see

Posted from Trinidad And Tobago

By Sanjiva | May 28th, 2006 at 3:34 am

This was the first T&T match I’ve seen since the Bahrain match, and I was impressed by our posession, and how comfortable our midfielders looked on the ball. Also, Carlos Edwards and Chris Birchall look excellent, and many teams will envy us for being able to bring Latapy off the bench. Having said all that, our defending was poor and it should be a huge warning sign that the only class player on the Welsh team was able to score twice. As mentioned before, the score doesn’t matter, but our deficiencies (and improvements!) were highlighted. And that’s what friendlies are for.

Posted from Germany

By Euler | May 28th, 2006 at 8:26 am

You are beautiful, Stacy. I love the way you love your team. And I agree that the loss is paramount for T&T to be more prepared for the competition. The defense was bad? Now they know it for sure.

Keep your fingers crossed for the next games!!!

By World Cup Blogger » Blog Archive » World Cup Friendlies Recap-”Play Safe in their Mind” | May 28th, 2006 at 9:52 am

[...] Netherlands 1 – 0 Cameroon Despite his controversial issue with Fergie and undecided future in Manchester United, Ruud van Nistelrooy scored in the 23rd minute to give the Dutch the victory. Cameroon is still bitter about not qualifying for the World Cup and it showed with them picking up six yellow cards and a red card. The game play that really menacing Marco Van Basten troop. Scary. Cote d’Ivoire 1 – 1 Switzerland The Elephants againts the improved Swiss. The two World Cup qualifiers played to a draw in Basle. Tranquillo Barnetta’s goal gave the Swiss the lead in the first half. Emerse Fae got the equalizer for the Elephants with a beautiful goal from 30 yards. These two teams continue to intrigue and unpredictable. Germany 7 – 0 Luxembourg Germany hammering their pressure on small team to make them feeling so good about it. The Luxembourg is ranked 152nd in the world and for once those FIFA rankings might be correct. I could list the German players who scored but it might be easier to list the ones that did not. One concern for the Germans is an ankle injury sustained by centre-back Robert Huth. He’ll be examined once the team returns to its training camp in Switzerland. Wales 2 – 1 Trinidad and Tobago Stern John gave the Soca Warriors the lead in the 32nd minute, but Robert Earnshaw scored twice to give Wales the win. It is worth noting that David Vaughan came on for Wales in the second making his international debut at 16 years of age, a record for Wales. He might play in a World Cup in my lifetime. Or not. [...]

Posted from United States

By Beenie: We’re Not Afraid of Roo - FIFA World Cup 2006 - Trinidad and Tobago World Cup Team Blog | May 29th, 2006 at 6:50 pm

[...] Select World Cup Team World Cup Blog Home Angola Argentina Australia Brazil Costa Rica Cote d’Ivoire Croatia Czech Republic Ecuador England France Germany Ghana Italy Iran Japan Korea Republic Mexico Netherlands Paraguay Poland Portugal Referees Saudi Arabia Serbia and Montenegro Spain Sweden Switzerland Togo Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Ukraine USA ———- World Cup Store World Cup Marketplace World Cup Tickets Travel to Germany World Cup Fantasy League Add this blog to: MyYahoo, Google, Bloglines, rnum=Math.round(Math.random() * 100000); document.write(”); GERMANY 2006 TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO World Cup History: Appearances: 1 | Wins: 0 | Losses: 0 | Draws: 0 | Best Finish: 2006 Debut Home » Group B, World Cup 2006 « Welsh Walkover | Home | [...]

Posted from United States

By The B Factor - FIFA World Cup 2006 - Trinidad and Tobago World Cup Team Blog | June 1st, 2006 at 8:10 pm

[...] As I mentioned in my post-match analysis of our 2-1 loss to Wales, it was Birchall who set up the only goal of that match (scored by Stern John), and he (along with Carlos Edwards, Latapy and Collin Samuel) was one of the most convincing performers throughout. [...]

Posted from United States

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