HexagonalBlog

The AFC/CONCACAF Playoff, Leg 2

Bahrain 0-1 Trinidad & Tobago

At last!  At long last...Trinidad & Tobago -  after so many disappointments, after so many underwhelming performances - dug deep and buried once and for all the bitter memories of 1971, 1989, and 2001.  Now the tiny Caribbean nation is in the World Cup finals, the fourth Caribbean country (and the second English Caribbean nation) to qualify for the finals, and I will guarantee you that there will be celebrations in T&T, the USA, Canada, Great Britain, and beyond.  Tomorrow is a national holiday on the two islands, but unlike 1989 it will not be a bitter one.

Dennis Lawrence will always have a place in Trinidadian history.  But this is also a moment for Dwight Yorke and Russell Latapy, who were on the field against the USA on that fateful November day, and after a long and distinguished career will finally be on soccer's biggest stage.  This is also a great achievement for Leo Beenhakker who helped right a sinking ship and lead the Soca Warriors to only one loss in their last six matches. 

As for Bahrain, they went further than they had ever done before in the World Cup, although not without much controversy.  They gave a brave effort, and did what they had to do in the away matches in both of their playoff series.  But as Peruzovic said after the match, the game and the series turned on small details.   It is bitterly disappointing to miss the finals by one goal, and it showed in Ali Baba's ejection and the poor fan reaction after the match.

So Trinidad & Tobago are in the World Cup, and CONCACAF - a region often derided and ridiculed (though not without reason sometimes!) - has as many teams in the World Cup finals as South America...would you believe it!  Ich sehe Sie in Deutschland, T&T.  But for now, you have some partying to do.

Congratulations T&T!!!

See you at the World Cup!!!  Go crazy, folks!

A Message for T&T (once again)

GOOD LUCK!!!!!

-The HexagonalBlog

UPDATE:  For those of you in the USA who want to see the playoff, both home and return legs will be broadcast LIVE on Fox Soccer Channel - the Saturday match beginning at 4:30pm EST and the Wednesday match at 11:00am EST.

Preview, AFC/CONCACAF Playoff [Leg 2]

(This was supposed to be published on the day of the second leg, but I forgot to switch to "publish" instead of "draft".  The result is already known, but I'm putting this out for your amusement. -HHH 11/22)

Bahrain vs. Trinidad & Tobago
National Stadium, Manama
Referee:  Oscar Ruíz (Colombia)

A maiden trip to the World Cup finals is ninety minutes away for either Trinidad & Tobago or Bahrain, and there's really no reason to keep anything in reserve.  Both teams arrived on Sunday night after an all-day chartered flight, and T&T will have at least 200 supporters in the stadium on Wednesday.

Beenhakker is feeling confident despite the 1-1 draw, in which Latapy, Yorke, and John played poor games at exactly the wrong time.  They simply cannot afford a repeat in Manama.  Bahrain will have their own problems to contend with, as Marzooq and Salmeen are suspended due to yellow card accumulation.   The TV commentators on Saturday said that Trinidad & Tobago might be forced to play a more wide-open style that better fits their strengths.  In my opinion, the fate of the playoff will rely on the side that plays more like a team and is not wholly reliant on a brilliant individual play.  We shall see who that favors on Wednesday night (morning in the USA and Caribbean).

Probabilities for victory (based on recent ELO ratings):  Bahrain 66.6%, T&T 33.4%.
Prediction: Goalless draw (Bahrain qualifies for the World Cup)

The AFC/CONCACAF Playoff, Leg 1

*** Post revised and moved to front ***

Trinidad & Tobago 1-1 Bahrain

Once again, the biggest match to be played on Trinidadian soil ended in a draw.  Fortunately the Soca Warriors have ninety more minutes to play, but they will need a much better effort than they showed on Saturday night. 

I wasn't able to watch the match live, but I saw the replay on Monday night and I was struck by the lethargic attitude of the T&T side in such a critical match.  It is one thing to play tight and overly cautious, it is quite another to appear so relaxed as to lose discipline and take unnecessary risks.  Trinidad and Tobago seemed to be on both ends of the spectrum - they employed Stern John as the lone striker and as a result put very little pressure on the Bahraini defense, and at the same time their players were too content with fancy dribbling tricks in place of doing something useful with the ball.  For the first fifteen minutes, the Soca Warriors looked more dangerous, and forced the Bahraini goalkeeper to make a low diving save to his left.  But after that point Bahrain took advantage and forced Trinidad's back line into some disarray.  They also played the lone striker, but they were more than content with 0-0.

In the second half, T&T attempted to take over the match, but their efforts wilted away in the face of some defensive pressing by the footballers from the Gulf.  Latapy was rendered ineffective and was substituted; Stern John would later leave the game as well.  Finally after a series of corner kicks, Bahrain took the lead when Salman rose between two onlooking defenders to head the ball past Jack.  Trinidad & Tobago attempted to elevate their game, but their attack was still unorganized and weakly supported.  Yet five minutes later, a run along the right flank by Andrews (?, may have been Jones) was broken up by the Bahraini defense, only for the ball to roll into open space for Birchall to release a thunderous strike across the goal face into the upper corner of the far post.  A spectacular goal!!

T&T would have a few more chances to grab a critical second goal, but Ali Hassan was up to the task.  The final whistle brought a cheer to the packed crowd at Hasely Crawford Stadium, but they must know that Bahrain is in the driver's seat.  Trinidad and Tobago were saved by a spectacular individual effort, but they will need a disciplined team performance on Wednesday in order to advance to Germany next summer. 

Preview, AFC/CONCACAF Playoff [Leg 1]

Trinidad & Tobago vs. Bahrain
Hasley Crawford Stadium, Port-of-Spain
Referee:  Mark Shield (Australia)

Two countries.  Two matches.  One place at the World Cup.  Bahrain's national team has continued to improve since they reached the final round of Asian World Cup qualifying four years ago, but  their only road to the World Cup finals was always going to be through the playoff route.  Trinidad & Tobago's footballers have been this close to the finals before, and they will want to start writing a new history before their home fans.    Both sides have struggled at times during the qualifying campaign and swapped out coaches as a result - Trinidad & Tobago brought on Leo Beenhakker in March, and Bahrain hired Wolfgang Sidka before later replacing him with Luka Peruzovic.  Even though there were long flights for players on both sides, the teams are in Port-of-Spain and at full strength.

Trinidad and Tobago's objective, obviously, will be to score.  Latapy wants to finish off the tie at home, but in order to do that, he, Yorke and John will have to repeat their successful combination play from the Mexico game.  That match was the best that I've seen T&T play in several years, and Beenhakker to his credit won't change the game plan from the previous outing.  The major concern, however, will be the yellow card situation - eleven players are playing with a yellow card, including Avery John and Dwight Yorke. 

Bahrain will likely adopt the same strategy as other teams in a two-leg series - restrict the scoring chances of the home team, and look for an away goal.  They did exactly that in their playoff against Uzbekistan, and a similar result would put them in a great position.  Bahrain will have one addition that they didn't have in their matches against Uzbekistan - Ala'a Hubail.  Hubail was the leading scorer at the Asian Cup (tied with Iran's Karimi), and is a dangerous striker for the T&T defense to handle.   It's not 100% certain that  he will be in the starting lineup, but given his ability and form I can't see how Peruzovic can leave him out. 

In short, I'm expecting a tight game....Bahrain to press and make it difficult for Trinidad & Tobago to build up, a few scoring chances, and T&T defenders wary of the counterattacks through Hubail.  Given my predictions, it could end up being a wide-open affair.  But I am certain that nothing will be happening on Trinidad and Tobago for two hours on Saturday.

Probabilities for victory (based on current ELO ratings):  T&T 62.7% , Bahrain 37.3%.
My prediction: T&T win (2-1)

Bahrain names squad for playoff

It's been a while since I've posted anything CONCACAF-related on here, but with the AFC/CONCACAF playoff a week away, it's time to start talk about the game.  Bahrain announced on Sunday a 25-member squad for the two-match playoff against Trinidad & Tobago.  The squad members, according to the Trinidad Express, are:

Goalkeepers: Ali Hassan, Sayed Mohammed Jaffer, Abdulrahman Abdulkarim.
Defenders: Abdulla al Marzooqi, Ebrahim al Mishkhas, Ahmed al Hujariri, Ghazi al Kuwari, Mohammed Juma'a, Sayed Mohammed Adnan.
Midfielders: Hamad Rakea, Hussain Salman, Saleh Farhan, Hussain Baba, Rashid Al Doosary, Fawzi Ayesh, Talal Yousef, Mohammed Salmeen, Salman Isa, Mohammed Hubail, Mahmood Jalal.
Forwards: Ahmed Hassan, Abdulla al Dikheel, Ismail Abdullatif, Ala'a Hubail, Hussain Ali.

Bahrain's team is to arrive in the Caribbean on Monday, along with T&T's overseas-based players.  They'll have some time to get acquainted before Saturday.

The Nakhid Saga

It's a shame that I've been so busy at work that I haven't had time to blog the latest developments out of Trinidad & Tobago.  During the weekend there were rumblings about former assistant coach (and national team player) David Nakhid and the manner in which he left the national team staff.  Since then, the case has been the major story in the run-up to the playoff, and the allegations and sharp words have been flying in all directions, involving Nakhid, Leo Beenhakker, and the always-present Jack Warner.   And what would a controversy be without Jack Warner involved?

I don't have time to make any comments on the matter - bedtime's approaching - but in the meantime I'll leave you with some press reports in the Trinidad Express here, here, and here.

One only hopes that it doesn't prove to be too much of a distraction.

High Noon

Or close to it.   In Trinidad & Tobago's time zone, that is.  T&T's second leg against Bahrain will kickoff at 7:30pm local time, which is during the lunch hour in T&T  (12:30pm).

Expect everything on the two islands to come to a standstill for two hours on that day.

News from T&T

Some news related to Trinidad & Tobago during the week, but didn't post for one reason or another:

• T&T's soccer federation made record profits from the final Hexagonal match against Mexico -- close to US$37,000, which is really unheard of.   I don't know the net profit from West Indies cricket tests in T&T, but I wouldn't be surprised if the figure is close to the one for this match.
• The match against Bahrain will be played around 6-7pm.  There goes my idea of playing the match in the early afternoon and then hightailing it to the airport immediately afterward.
• T&T's government will pay for a huge portion of the team's expenses in the playoff, including the transmission of the away leg in Bahrain on TV (US$50k) and the charter flight to/from Bahrain (about US$700k).  The soccer federation Jack Warner has also secured millions more (Trinidadian dollars) in funding  from local and multinational companies.  It's the new Jamaica!
• The federation Warner also agreed to double the match fees given to the T&T players.
• Finally, Jack Warner has sharply criticized the Jamaican Football Federation's move to host a week-long minicamp for Bahrain's team, in addition to the friendly match to be played between the two countries.  On one hand, it's totally understandable -- Jamaica's federation is no longer fashionable and is now strapped for cash, and Bahrain waved two handfuls of dollars in their face.  But given that Guatemala declined a similar offer, it's unfortunate that Jamaica didn't do the same.  And Jamaica's not going to listen to talk about "Caribbean solidarity" - solidarity in that region is a mile wide and an inch deep.