Newcomers Trinidad

Add as a preferred source on Google

WEISENDORF, Germany, June 16 (Reuters) Trinidad&Tobago, the smallest nation ever to compete in a World Cup, have proven why they qualified for the biggest spectacle in world soccer.

With two gutsy performances in their Group B matches against Sweden and England so far, the islanders showed they deservedly booked a place among the 32 best footballing nations on the planet.

While Yesterday's 2-0 loss to powerhouse England may have seriously dented their chances for a second round spot, Trinidad can take pride in their performance as it took only two last-gasp goals for the English to beat them.

Sweden had only managed to draw 0-0 against Trinidad in their group opener.

A motley crew of players mainly from smaller English leagues, the Scottish premier league and the weak domestic championship, managed to overcome a seemingly endless three tough rounds of qualifications and a playoff thriller against Bahrain to earn a berth in the tournament.

But their veteran Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker, who made his debut on the bench of the island nation only 13 months ago, has managed to bring the best out of them.

They showed it when they kept England at bay for 83 minutes, hoping to snatch a second point, before towering striker Peter Crouch rose to meet a cross from Beckham and score. Steven Gerrard added a second in stoppage time.

''We were well prepared for this,'' said keeper Shaka Hislop.

''We had worked hard on our plans and it was down to our preparation rather than England's predictability.'' Beenhakker, who in the past has coached Real Madrid as well as the Dutch national side at the 1990 World Cup, knew what he was going to face in Germany. ''We don't expect miracles,'' he had said before the tournament.

But given his side's performances so far and their outside chance for qualification going into the third match of the group, a small miracle must have happened somewhere.

Only few would have expected the Caribbean nation of 1.1 million to still be in the running, albeit with a combination of results, to snatch second spot from Sweden.

''In football the gap between small and big countries has changed,'' defender Brent Sancho said. ''We were a bit unfortunate not to get away with the draw but that is football and there is nothing you can do.'' ''Now we are left with a small chance and who knows, football is strange,'' he said.

Trinidad's last group match is against Paraguay on June 20.

Should they win that comfortably and England similarly beat Sweden on the same day, the Islanders would sneak through.

REUTERS