As the minutes counted down on Trinidad and Tobago's quest for a place at their first-ever FIFA World Cup™, goalkeeper Kelvin Jack was the centre of attention as Bahrain made every effort to resurrect their own hopes of appearing in Germany next year.
First Bahrain striker Hussain Ali Baba dispossessed the goalkeeper while he was taking a goal-kick, slipping the ball into the net only to be penalised for the offence. Then the Dundee-based keeper flung himself high to his left to make a stunning stop in the dying seconds that preserved his team’s 2-1 aggregate lead. The final whistle blew moments later and T&T began celebrating what Jack considers "an unbelievable achievement" and one for which much of the credit must go to their coach Leo Beenhakker.
FIFAworldcup.com: That was a fantastic save right at the end.
Kevin Jack: It was just one of those things, it is the reward for all the hard work and one of those things you work on in training. It just happened to happen in this game. God was with me, to be honest, so we are going to the World Cup!
What does qualifying for the FIFA World Cup mean to Trinidad and Tobago?
It's an unbelievable achievement for a country our size. A lot of players never, ever qualify for the World Cup, that's the reality of it. To have the chance to play in the World Cup and to get the chance to experience that happiness, then sometimes you have to take it.
How much of the credit for this achievement do you give to your coach Leo Beenhakker?
I can't give enough credit to Leo Beenhakker. He has brought a level of professionalism and a level of belief, actually. He gave us that belief that we could compete at this level, that we could compete with the likes of Mexico and the US and the rest of the group. I think Trinidad have got better as the campaign has gone by.
What exactly did Beenhakker change to get such good results?
He changed the mind-set of the players and psychologically he made us believe that we can be a better team and all of the players took that on board and were able to produce that on the pitch. Not every game we did well but he brought that fighting spirit, that tactical awareness and that self-belief that we could do this.
What do you think will be knock-on effects for the game in Trinidad now that you have qualified for the World Cup?
It's only going to be positive. There are a lot of good footballers in Trinidad and because of where in the world we are situated it's difficult sometimes for Trinidadians to get a break in Europe, so hopefully this World Cup qualification will be a showcase for us and will open the door for many more Trinidadians.