The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) will be collecting six million Swiss Francs (CHF), or 2.6 million pounds (TT$26m), for playing in three opening round matches at the FIFA World Cup in Germany next year.
This was disclosed yesterday by FIFA's World Cup Organising Committee in Leipzig, the venue for Friday's draw.
The 32 teams participating in the 2006 World Cup finals will each receive two million CHF for each of their three group matches.
In addition, teams advancing to the round of 16 will collect a further 2.5 million Swiss Francs, while for each successive match, the amount increases by .5 million, with the World Cup winners running away with 24 million Swiss Francs.
Following FIFA's announcement, T&TFF president Oliver Camps, who left for Germany yesterday, told the Express the money is being given by FIFA "for the preparation of the team and for all the expenses that you will have with the warm-up matches".
Camps was also of the view that a favourable draw for the T&T Soca Warriors would be the group including Mexico, as in their last outing with the Central Americans the Warriors won 2-1.
"Well, that grouping I feel we will do quite well, and we have the measure of Mexico, then we face up to them," he said.
Camps also felt the national team would be well prepared by the time the World Cup kicks off on June 9 after a rigorous training schedule under head coach Leo Beenhakker, who has proposed Austria as the team's pre-tournament base.
"By June, we willl definitely perform well, once we have things in place. We need to get enough funds to really get the team properly prepared," he said.
Camps also appealed for greater corporate support for the Soca Warriors' cause.
T&TFF special adviser Jack Warner, who is also FIFA vice-president and deputy chairman of the Finance Committee, is in Germany for the World Cup draw and expressed excitement before the event, which has historic significance for T&T.
"The pace is picking up by the hour here," Warner told T&TFF media officer Shaun Fuentes, "and you can feel the kind of excitement that is associated with a World Cup ahead of Friday's draw.
"The Organising Committee and by extent everyone else who is involved in this venture continues to go all out to ensure that this event and particularly Friday's major event is second to none and I don't think there's anyone else here at the moment who is more excited to be a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago because of what the country is set to be part of on such a massive stage," said Warner.
Joining Warner in Germany today in time for the draw will be Camps, T&TFF general secretary Richard Groden, team manager Bruce Aanansen, assistant manager George Joseph, Fuentes, cultural liason officer Terry Joseph, security officer Roy Augustus, Tobago House of Assembly (THA) official Tracy Davidson, and Dr James Hepple of the Tourism Development Company.
T&T coach Beenhakker will also witness the draw.
And Beenhakker has selected a five-star hotel, the Landhaus Wachtelhof, and nearby sporting facilities in Rotenburg, Germany, where the Soca Warriors will hold their final training camp before the World Cup finals.
As part of the build-up to the draw, FIFA have also arranged a "Facts and Figures" piece, which includes information about first-time qualifiers Trinidad and Tobago.