If head coach John Dyson was concerned about West Indian complacency going into the second Test against England this morning, all he had to do was show his cricketers what Trinidad and Tobago's footballers did in the second half of Wednesday night's World Cup qualifier in El Salvador.
So, on the face of it, we should be happy to have earned a draw at the Estadio Cuscatlan, especially, as four years ago, the national team suffered defeats in their opening two games of the final phase, yet still went on to qualify for Germany '06.
A point is a point is a point, I know. But let's be honest about this. We didn't so much earn a point as threw away two, and only time will tell if the slackness and skylarking that paved the way for Osael Romero to become an instant Salvadorean hero in the final minutes of a game, that should have been sewn up long before by the visitors, will come back to haunt us after the last of the ten rounds of games is played on October 14.
In searching for a culprit over Trinidad and Tobago's squandering of a 2-0 advantage, Stern John is an almost ready-made target, after his attempt at converting a penalty in the second half to make the score then 3-0 looked more like a rugby conversion as his effort sailed high over the crossbar.
Add to that a one-on-one with the 'keeper that he failed to convert, and it's probably just as well that he, like so many others in the squad, is returning to his club commitments in England, and will therefore avoid the vitriol of the less charitable of his compatriots.
Of course, he experienced the same thing four years ago, before being hailed as a saviour with two late goals in a do-or-die fixture against Guatemala at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, so it's unlikely that such a seasoned professional will be put-off by all the long-distance cussing in his direction.
In such an incendiary atmosphere, few will want to give him credit for putting the El Salvador defence under constant pressure in the first half, and having a direct role in the second goal by drawing the foul and the penalty that was so expertly converted by Dwight Yorke, after Carlos Edwards' raking shot from distance had given T&T the lead.
I'm sure the most obvious question has been asked already: Why didn't the captain take the second penalty as well? It's not as if he was carrying an injury for he played right to the end, even if his 37-year-old legs were running out of gas faster than most of the others, on what was obviously a hard, bouncy pitch that made ball control extremely difficult, and also detracted significantly from the ideal spectacle of a smooth, flowing game.
Let it also be placed on record that it is really ridiculous that playing in so many countries in Central America involves looking over your shoulder at bottles being hurled in your direction, instead of just simply focusing on the opponents on the field in front of you.
If FIFA doesn't punish the respective federations in a really meaningful way-deducting points or taking away home advantage-then this nonsense will continue, in the same way that the governing body's superficial attention to the scourge of racism in the game has done little to stem the growth of this cancer.
But those are wider issues of world football. Our fundamental issue with our football is that, once again, we have been found wanting when it comes to finishing off the opposition. This penchant for gallerying and easing off the throttle seems to be almost endemic in us, not that it should be allowed to completely mask the usual inadequacies in defence, which the Salvadorens repeatedly exploited and eventually capitalised upon.
Still, you have to wonder why Kenwyne Jones didn't follow through on John's deflected shot, off the goalkeeper in the second half, with the same barrelling, bustling, muscular energy he shows for Sunderland every weekend?
While opportunities were being wasted at one end, at no time did this crop of seasoned players seem capable of consolidating their hold on the game by keeping possession and knocking the ball around.
It was simply a case of backs and forwards one way, and backs and forwards the other way, like a game of small-goal football in the schoolyard.
Those who choose to be perennially positive will hark back to the earlier observation, that almost all of us would have been satisfied with a draw beforehand. And, yes, this point could make a huge difference in the final reckoning.
Okay, so should Dyson tolerate indisciplined, irresponsible cricket this weekend at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, just because his charges pulled off a stunner at Sabina Park a few days earlier?
Sometimes, it's not so much a case of celebrating achievement, but acknowledging that much more could and should have been accomplished. In that context, our footballers sold themselves and the nation short in San Salvador on Wednesday night.