Welsh Warmup

In just a couple of hours the Soca Warriors will be lining up in Graz, Austria against the Welsh for an important friendly.

As has been widely reported, Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy will be missing the match. This is a real pity, because as Russell Latapy noted in his on-going diary series at the Daily Record, the pair would have offered the Warriors “ideal preparation for the England match.”

The game has been heavily hyped in Austria, and the stadium is to welcome a crowd of between 10,000 and 15,000 people.

I won’t be liveblogging this match, as I’ll be watching it in a pub with several dozen other Trinbagonians, and there’s no wireless access where we’ll be.

I will provide a match report and general commentary when I get back, however.

Something of a tangent – last night I went to a big fete (Trinidadian party) here in London, and I was struck by how many people were sporting T&T supporter shirts. One individual had even managed to get his hands on an official T&T shirt – which is no mean feat because they’re sold out and backordered everywhere in London. There’s a huge and tangible sense of pride and excitement, and as the World Cup looms closer those feelings are only going to get strong.

I can’t wait.