The T&T senior football team played 23 international matches (including friendlies), winning 14 and losing seven, with two draws. The team scored a total of 46 goals and conceded 28, although in the current Digicel Cup tournament, the side is yet to concede a goal after five appearances.
The national squad suffered losses to Mexico, Scotland and Egypt but recorded a 2-0 victory over a talented Iraq team in London and earned a memorable 1-1 draw against South Korea in Seoul.
Within the region, the “Soca Warriors” dominated the scene, winning all matches against Caribbean neighbours both at home and away.
In looking back at the progress of the team ahead of the crucial final round of the World Cup against the region’s soccer “heavyweights,” head coach Bertille St Clair said that the team did reasonably this year but there is much more work to do.
“When I took over in February, I realised there was a lot of work to get the team ready. We needed to open up the national team and to widen the pool of players that we were looking at.
“On the technical side, there were weaknesses in some players and in the modern game if you cannot control and pass the ball after just one or two touches then you will get problems. On top of that, many players were not fit enough for international football, so I had to adjust my plans a bit.”
St Clair stressed that it did not make sense spending a lot of time on tactical work if the players were having difficulty controlling the ball.
“I will say it over and over again that there is no system of play that can compensate for players who cannot control the ball, who cannot pass the ball and who cannot or will not run.
“You need ball control, speed and stamina to play in any system, whether it is 4-4-2 or 3-5-2. You also need football intelligence or “ball sense” and sometimes you have to explain things over and over again before a player understands what you want.
“I was a schoolteacher for many years and I know that it takes a lot of patience and repetition to get youngsters to learn something and to do it automatically. On top of that, we only had the local players for one day in the week and sometimes you could not get even that.
“When I was in England recently, Eriksson was saying that he would like to get the English players for a full month before their World Cup games so that he could prepare properly. And that is England where there are seasoned professionals but over here you have to make do with three or four days in each month.”
Pointing out that the little time he had with the players was spent on working on basic things like improving their first touch and moving into space, St Clair added:
“Now that we have the players on a more regular basis we can also work on their fitness and other things. Some may say that this is the work for the clubs and schools to do because players should develop the basic skills at an early age.
“I agree but if that is not happening then we have to take up the slack. That is why I said from the beginning that we have to go step by step, brick by brick.
“We exposed a lot of players this year, local and foreign because I needed to see what they can do, not only in practice, but in competition as well. That is where you find out about the character of a player, who can take pressure and fight back or who gives up when the going gets tough.
“The World Cup is not a tea party or a walk in the park. There are some players will plenty skill but they are mentally weak and their attitude is poor. They are accustomed to special treatment with their clubs and they expect the same with the national team but I am not tolerating that. When they bring their ‘prima donna’ behaviour to the national team, I straighten them out one time . It is a level playing field and no player is more important than the team.
“Some may find I am too strict and I should ease up a bit but international football is a tough game and only the strong survive, strong in mind and strong in body.
If we want to get to the top then we have to work very hard and we can’t look for any excuse to avoid hard work. I will never compromise on discipline because that is the foundation for success and I will always do what is in the best interest of the national team.”
Looking ahead, St Clair believes that Trinidad and Tobago has a good chance to qualify for its first ever World Cup finals.
“I took our youth team to the World Cup in 1991 and I think I can do the same for the seniors in 2006. It is not going to be easy and I will be demanding a lot from the players.
“Fortunately, we have a good technical staff with people like former England manager and Aston Villa coach Graham Taylor and David Nakhid coming on board. The management of the team is also in good hands and I think we have an excellent group.
“Jack Warner is giving great support and I would like to see the government and the business community join forces on the road to Germany. If we all come together, we can make this nation very proud.”
T&T will start its campaign in the six-nation contest against the United States on February 9 (Ash Wednesday) and wind-up against Mexico on October 12.
The US has qualified for four straight World Cup finals and Mexico three, while T&T has never made it past the final round.
Other than Mexico and the United States, Costa Rica is the only other nation in the final qualifying round that has reached the World Cup finals, which it accomplished in 1990 and 2002.
In what could be the most competitive final stage in recent Concacaf history, the third phase of the competition will be played in a league system, with home and away matches. The top three teams will automatically qualify for the final competition of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany.
The fourth-placed team in Concacaf’s third stage will enter a play-off (home and away) against the fifth-placed team in the Asian zone. The team that wins this head-to-head showdown will also book its place at the biggest event in world football in 2006.
T&T’s other home matches will be on March 30 (vs Costa Rica), June 4/5 (vs Panama) and September 3/4 (vs Guatemala).
Among the countries failing to make it past the second round were Jamaica and Honduras.