Jah Gol, a regular poster on the Soca Warriors Forums, describes the scene:

It was truly remarkable to hear the sound of the people screaming for the Warriors. I’ve never heard anything that loud before. The chants wouldn’t cease, even the formal ceremony was drowned out by an ocean of audible sentiment.

“Sancho, Sancho, Sancho” we shouted in support of the dreadlocked defender. The horrors of Kaiserslautern errors were erased by the fantastic reception at Piarco.

But Trinbagonians are a funny sort of people. Already we are asking, “what next?” Already there are undercurrents of bacchanal, as the inimitable JT describes it over at the Caribbean Beat blog:

Was Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker as good as people thought? Why didn’t he bring on Russell Latapy earlier, what does he have against Latapy (some very weird conspiracy theories here), why didn’t he drop Stern John, why didn’t he start with this one instead of that one? If only, if only … then surely things would have been different? The ominous sound of knives being sharpened. Why hasn’t the government delivered on its promises of largesse to the players, made after their World Cup qualification last November? What happens now, will Beenhakker be retained, will football be taken more seriously by the government?

Therein lies the root of the Trinbagonian psyche. We fete, we forget, we start again.

What next for the Warriors?

No one is quite sure. But rest assured – I’ll find out, and you’ll be able to find me somewhere in the murky depths of the blogosphere.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s been emotional.

And so, au revoir.

I’ve played various sports at different levels, but none have ever come close to usurping football’s throne. Perhaps I inherited this love (though alas, not the skills) from my grandfather, John “Bull” Sutherland, one of T&T’s greatest forwards. I’ve lost my voice dozens of times after cheering and jeering at countless Intercol and Secondary Schools’ Football matches in T&T; I’ve been to various editions of the Copa Caribe tournament, and was present at almost every match when Trinidad hosted the Under-17 FIFA World Championship, where I witnessed Tevez’s skills first hand.

I was five years old when the Strike Squad, as our team was known then, came agonisingly close to qualifying for the 1990 World Cup. In the 17 years since that 1-0 loss to the USA, I have endured the agony of 5-1 losses to Guatemala and experienced the rapture of our first ever World Cup qualification. I’ve seen the wonders that a Dutchman can do, and watched Dwight Yorke’s transformation from Casanova to Captain. I’ve seen Russell Latapy light up a midfield and Shaka Hislop save a nation.

For the first time, I’ve been able to cheer my country on at football’s greatest event. My heroes – our heroes – from Luton and Wrexham, Jabloteh and New England Revolution, took on Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United and showed them all what it means to be a Warrior.

The Soca Warriors are going home without a goal and without a trophy, but they are not going home empty handed. They take with them the love of millions, the passions of a small country with big dreams and the respect of a whole world.

Vibes it up my Warriors, now and forever.

At full time that Warriors were down 2-0 and out of the World Cup.

Till 2010, then.

Or at least – till tomorrow.

(Brent – doh study it, you are still and always a Warrior. Carlos – you are my player of the tournament. Birchall – you are a Trini, a Warrior, a hero in midfield. Latas – your magic will live on in my heart forever. Dwight – you are a great, great captain. Beenie – giwwe four more years nah man. Stern – I have some serious words for you.)

The song is a tribute to the popular “Glow” fete in Trinidad, the premise of which is that everyone wears white in a venue lit by ultraviolet lights. The effect is ethereal.

“Wear white, aim for higher heights, wear white, only white we wearing tonight”

Tonight we’re wearing white against Paraguay.

Come on Warriors – higher heights await.

It’s a good thing we’ve got Avery John back following his two game suspension.

Fingers crossed that there are no other injuries in the Warrior camp before kickoff tomorrow!

Every day our coach, Leo Beenhakker, keeps reminding the squad that our job is not yet over. We’ve already proved we’re not whipping boys but we want more. Recording Trinidad & Tobago’s first World Cup win is the minimum goal we’ve set ourselves. Then, if the gods are our on our side, who knows?
To beat Paraguay we need to be more ruthless up front. We must take every chance, every half-chance and every sniff of a half-chance. Stern John’s looked brilliant in training but he’s had a quiet tournament and I know he wants to put that right.

(Excerpt from Carlos Edwards’ latest column for the Guardian UK)

We going to fight, with all we might – 90 minutes of red, black and white…

“The team is ready again, they gained a lot of confidence, a lot of courage and we know what we have to do. The message to the guys is focus on the Paraguay match try to win the match, do what you have to do. In that way, we will go for it and try to have a good result.” – Leo “Warrior Chief” Beenhakker

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!

Tomorrow we play Paraguay and England play Sweden. My Swedish friends are going to throttle me for this, but I hope that England finally beats Sweden. (Forgive me, Svenska Fans!) More than that, T&T need to convincingly thrash Paraguay.

Beenie, as ever, remains philosophical:

You have 90 minutes to win a match and you can lose it in one second.

90 minutes.

I love this game.

I’ve just spent a most enjoyable half-hour listening to the latest from the 1Xtra gang – a documentary on our beloved Soca Warriors. It features interviews with the Little Magician, the Duke, Tallest and Me Mum, as well as snippets from fans all over the UK. The soundtrack is, of course, brilliant.

You can also check out Alex Jordan’s special World Cup edition of her weekly soca show, as this week she talks to Warrior fans in Germany and the UK.

Soca Warriors Fever – becoming a pandemic.

“Send for the Doctor, I got the music fever … / I start to sweat and my temperature rise / I get diagnose with catching the vibes” – 3 Canal – Send for the Doctor

I haven’t been so well this weekend, so to keep my spirits up I’ve been listening to 3 Canal’s latest album, Vibes on repeat. It’s a great album by one of my all-time favourite groups, and there’s the added bonus that it’s also a fantastic tribute to the Soca Warriors (featuring tunes like Vibes It Up, a great analysis of which can be found here)

Send for the Doctor is another great, high energy song – and very appropriate, since it seems my symptoms might just be the result of the Soca Warriors Virus that’s been going around.

Thanks to Source over at the Soca Warriors Online Forums for the heads-up:

There is a new virus going around. It’s called the Soca Warriors virus. This virus is highly contagious and those infected by it cannot help but spread it; so beware.

The virus was developed on the tiny nation of Trinidad and Tobago some time ago but did not become a global threat until a master Dutch tactician by the name of Leo Beenhakker brought his expertise and perfected it. Beenhakker is credited for making it potent, highly contagious and releasing it globally.

The Germans were the first to experience its influence. On June 10th Sweden experienced the effects of the virus and the world saw the threat the virus could cause. On June 15th the mighty England got a real scare as they were exposed to the Soca Warrior and on June 20th Beenhakker says he will release the full effects of the virus on the South American country of Paraguay.

If there is one good thing about this highly contagious virus is that it has no ill effects although some have reported some strange symptoms. Symptoms like being glued to a television set for ninety minutes screaming, shouting, crying and then looking all over the internet or any news about the Soca Warriors. Listening to some man called Maximus Dan singing a song called “fighter” over and over.

The most common symptoms experienced from the virus are:
Tears — lots of uncontrollable tears
A sense of feeling good
Anticipation — can’t wait for the next game
A big lump in your throat when they playing
A longing for any news from the camp
A desire to talk to others (even strangers) about it.
Dressing in red before a game (even red underwear) and brushing your teeth with red toothpaste.

Those who have been infected by the virus are so happy they even forget about their worries and troubles and wish they the virus would never go away. If you have not been infected as yet don’t worry, it’s only a matter of time.

Wow. I’ve clearly been infected.

But as the late great Robert Nesta Marley said, one good thing about music – when it hits, you feel no pain.

Via ttgapers.com, I’m bringing you a free download of our anthem, as well as the lyrics to the song.

Even better – the video: