"Marvellous" Marvin Faustin scored the best goal of the evening for a Trinidad and Tobago Legends squad, but they still managed to lose 6-4 to a team of former Belgium and Holland international stars in a five-a-side extravaganza on Wednesday evening at Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya.
The Holland/Belgium All Stars were in T&T as part of their joint bid to host either the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup Finals, with Dutch superstar and bid committee chairman Ruud Gullit also lecturing and handing out certificates at the end of a coaching seminar, hosted by the Holland/Belgium organisers, at the Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence in Macoya.
The T&T Legends were made up of former national players such as Faustin, Dexter Francis, Larry Joseph, Angus Eve, Clayton Morris, Leonson Lewis, Brent Sancho and a now gray-haired Brian Williams.
The local squad began quickly and led through Eve, the footballer with the most international caps for Trinidad and Tobago.
Forty-year-old ex-Belgium striker Gert Verheyen levelled at 1-1 for the All Stars, before goals from Francis and a classic Lewis left-footer had the Legends leading 3-1.
It was then that former Lazio Dutchman Aaron Winter got going, scoring the next two goals to make it 3-3, before ex-Holland and Celtic striker Pierre Van Hooijdonk netted a brace to put the visitors ahead for the first time at 5-3.
Faustin then combined with Williams before busting the net with a right-footed scorcher to bring the Legends closer at 5-4. But Winter then completed his hat-trick to give the Holland/Belgium All Stars victory.
Veteran Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker, who led the Trinidad and Tobago Soca Warriors to the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany, was originally scheduled to arrive in Trinidad on Tuesday as a member of the Holland/Belgium All Stars, but had to withdraw at the last minute due to personal commitments in Holland.
The Holland/Belgium team featured ex-Holland internationals Pierre van Hooijdonk, Aron Winter, Rob Witschge and former Belgian World Cup stars Gilles De Bilde and Gert Verheyen while the T&T Legends team included Angus Eve, Marvin Faustin, Dexter Francis, Kerry Jamerson, Wayne Lawson, Leonson Lewis, Clayton Morris, Michael Maurice, Brent Sancho and Brian Williams.