Preparations for the T&T Under-20 team for the World Cup football championships began in March. After a number of screening sessions and domestic matches, coach Anton Corneal began his efforts to change the face of competitive football in T&T.
Despite a quiet but positive transformation of the current trends of the youth on the football field, only a handful paid attention.
Almost in veiled secrecy, this young team was making inroads into an attitudinal change, a feature which hardly ever existed in our sport.
It was only when the youngsters defeated Cuba and drew their second leg in Trinidad, that fans took notice.
With six weeks leading up to the final hurdle in Holland next summer, the enthusiasm increased.
Knowing that the other teams in the group were USA, Costa Rica and Panama, it could have been recognised that only a high intensity, collective approach would provide T&T with a chance.
The venue for the three-match tournament was Carson, California.
The location meant that there were various forms of adjustments to be made. An obvious time change of four hours, plus a temperature of 50 degrees less than at home, were barriers which needed to be cleared.
Nevertheless, this bunch of dedicated young players decided that the task was not out of their reach and although much sacrifice was needed, the rewards could have been worthwhile.
Despite the absence of friendly matches which would have brought the squad into game day readiness, there was the feeling that much ground was covered.
At this point, some financial input from the government or the business sector would have been the answer to getting the exposure which the team needed. But I suppose that everyone was awaiting on Jack Warner to stretch his financial hand further than he had already done.
They cast aside some local sides easily and placed the national senior team under tremendous pressure before losing a close one to them.
So it was off to Los Angeles, where they were faced with severe weather. Consistent rains which appeared at times to cancel out the tournament, deprived the squad of getting proper training time.
Their opponents, on the other hand, may not have been as handicapped. All three teams were in almost similar time zones, while only USA and Costa Rica knew anything about playing football in really cold weather.
The choice of venue offered an obvious chance to the USA. Apart from being at home, they knew the conditions, the climate, the field, and cleverly, they chose the majority of their players from those who played at UCLA and others who grew up in California.
To add to the woes of the inexperienced T&T, all their opponents had played several friendlies against top class opponents.
So what would this young team do against these well prepared opponents.
The records will show that they lost big to USA 6-1, to Costa Rica 2-1 and a hard fought match against Panama 3-1, the last match being only of academic value to T&T.
But records sometimes do not reflect the truth, and while we recognised that the youngsters were overawed by the electrifying situation which existed as they walked side by side with the US towards the field, the novelty experience seemed to have had a stunningly negative effect on their minds.
Having seen them play and train for some ten months, it was clear that the first 17 minutes never brought out anything near their best and they succumbed to three quick goals. They quickly gave another away and seemed set for humiliation.
However, they sprung to life and scored against the run of play and thus recorded the only goal which was scored against the US in the tournament.
Going into the dressing room at half time trailing 5-1, the worst was expected.
But this is when they decided that they must put their courage, intensity and determination to the task. Yes, they only conceded one more goal, but could have scored at least twice against the mighty US.
For some strange reason, one got the impression that the lesson was a painful but rewarding one if only because they were able to tell themselves that for 45 minutes, the USA did not appear as difficult as the previous 45, when nervousness took its toll.
In the second match, all of a sudden, one can hear the players chanting war songs as they walked alongside their second opponents Costa Rica.
Did this mean readiness and fearlessness? It certainly did. And were it not for some excellent goalkeeping and a horrible day by the Mexican referee, T&T would not have been sharing their sorrow at this time.
A goal that appeared blatantly offside and some debatable decisions tilted the scales in favour of the Central Americans.
Why was a Mexican appointed to officiate at a match which involved Costa Rica, and a referees Commissioner also from Costa Rica?
And at the end of that decisive match, T&T lost its two outstanding midfielders Kieron Daniel and Trevor Jagdeosingh because of yellow cards.
In spite of all these problems, T&T had greater possession, they had greater territorial advantage and more scoring opportunities.
Panama had to win their last game against T&T, especially as they had played so brilliantly against USA.
However, they found that the resistance by T&T to be more than they catered for and although leading 1-0 after the half time, it was only after Makan Hislop was sent off for what was deemed dangerous tackle, that they were able to get two goals.
Yet, with 10 men and 23 minutes, T&T scored and should have scored twice more.
The moral to this episode is: Here was a team which had all the ingredients which could have brought them better results, except for the absolute shortage of top class match practice. Maybe the tapes of these matches should so that fans can make a judgment.
Yes, players made mistakes and the team paid penalties. Yes, the strikers were not potent enough, and yes, they lost their matches.
But add 15 internationals against teams like Columbia, Brasil, Ecuador, Germany, Korea, Japan, Australia, England, and the picture could have been vastly different.
My advice to the authorities is to retain this team for the years leading to the next Olympics, where they could compete in the CAC games, the Pan Am Games and at least 30 friendlies annually. That is real preparation and afterwards we can assess our progress.
The commitment of these youngsters would stun those who love competitors. And added to this, the extraordinary talents of players like Hayden Tinto, Kieron Daniel, Karlon Murray, Trevor Jagdeosingh, Atulla Guerra, Kwesi Lara and Hasely Holder, can tell us something about our future in the sport.
UNDER-20 QUALIFYING FINAL ROUND
Group A P W D L F A Pts
USA 3 3 0 0 10 1 9
Panama 3 1 1 1 4 4 4
Costa Rica 3 1 1 1 3 4 4
T&T 3 0 0 3 3 11 0
Match Day Results:
Day One: USA 6 vs T&T 1; Costa Rica 1 vs Panama 1.
Day Two: Costa Rica 2 vs T&T 1; USA 2vs Panama 0.
Day Three: Panama 2 vs T&T 0; USA 2 vs Costa Rica 0.