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Warriors repel Vikings
June 10th, 2006
Obviously nobody told the Trinidad & Tobago players that they were to comfortably lose all three of their Group B matches. Or perhaps they simply ignored the advice.
Two days of World Cup matches have produced two surprises and I’ve been fortunate enough to attend both.
Today’s match in Dortmund again had a wonderful atmosphere. It was less intense than the Poland-Ecuador match but it was more colourful. Much of the colour had a Caribbean flavour – the Trinidadians really know how to enjoy themselves while they’re supporting their team.
The day also saw an outbreak of German pride. I lost count of how many people were wearing German colours as I walked from my hotel room in Cologne to the main train station.
The Portuguese fans are also out in force. Portugal plays Angola in Cologne’s first match tomorrow.
The train ride from Cologne to Dortmund is one I’d like to forget. The journey took longer than it was supposed to take, but, far worse than that, it was stiflingly hot and stuffy inside the train. It was a warm day, but certainly not an extremely hot one so something must have gone dreadfully wrong on the train – it felt like a sauna.
Just before the train reached Dortmund, I actually felt like I might pass out. And for a horrible few minutes, I thought that my day might be completely ruined.
But when the train finally stopped and I got out into the fresh air, I felt completely normal within about 30 seconds. I obviously wasn’t the only person that suffered as other people also let out groans of relief when they got onto the platform at Dortmund.
Getting to the stadium in Dortmund is quite easy for train travellers. At the main station, you simply hop onto a train that takes you to the stadium in five minutes. It was already fairly obvious that the majority of the crowd would be wearing the yellow of Sweden.
Now I’m going to say absolutely nothing about the female Swedish fans. I’ll just get into trouble if I talk about some of the stunning blonde-haired Scandinavian princesses that were dotted throughout the crowd.
A large screen outside the stadium allowed fans to watch the England-Paraguay game. It wasn’t a great match but bear in mind that it was a warm day and that match was played in the afternoon.
Now here’s something that you should know about England (which you probably know already). For some reason, journalists can’t help themselves when they write about England and they usually come out with a load of drivel. It may be positive or negative but it will often be drivel nonetheless.
All you really need to know is that England has a good team – probably not the best, but good enough to win the World Cup if the team plays well enough and gets a few good breaks. Today, the English players did enough to get three points. It wasn’t a great display but the match was played in the afternoon heat. The World Cup is a marathon, not a sprint.
When I got into the stadium, I quickly realised that I was in the large section of predominantly Trinidad & Tobago supporters. I was surprised by the high number of people that had come from the Caribbean and they were joined by Americans, English and Germans that have adopted the Soca Warriors.
Before the game and during the anthems, both sets of supporters were in fine voice. I particularly like Sweden’s national anthem – it’s nice to hear their fans sing it.
I had a category 3 seat over the corner flag again. Today, it was a seat with an obstructed view. I was a little worried about that before the game but it wasn’t bad. I just had a fence in front of me that consisted of three horizontal metal bars. Between those bars, I could see about half of the pitch so I just had to occasionally lower or raise my head.
The stadium in Dortmund isn’t quite as good as Gelsenkirchen’s (that will take some topping) but it does have a bigger capacity and that’s important. The more people that can see World Cup games, the better.
The Trinidadians stunned the Swedes on and off the pitch. Off it, the fans showed an enthusiasm that few others will match. They cheered and celebrated every good bit of play. When the final whistle blew, you could have been forgiven for thinking that Trinidad & Tobago had won the World Cup.
I was especially entertained by a fan behind me who did some occasional commentary. Whenever a Trinidadian won the ball in a tackle, this chap would say, “Thut is good fightin’ mun.”
On the pitch, the Soca Warriors played with courage and skill. Dwight Yorke was excellent, Dennis Lawrence and Brent Sancho were heroes in defence and goalkeeper Shaka Hislop distinguished himself with several outstanding saves. Cornell Glen looked quite lively after coming on as a substitute.
Despite their failure to score – and against 10 men for most of the second half – I don’t think the Swedes played that badly. They made chances and tried different things in attack. They just didn’t finish off well enough and found a goalkeeper in inspired form. Make no mistake, this was a high quality game.
The Swedish fans were quiet for much of the game – they had been louder before it started. At the end of the game, many were devastated. But there’s a long way to go and I have no doubt that their team is good enough to reach the next round.
I returned to Cologne as quickly as I could so I’ve seen nothing of Dortmund, except the train station and the stadium. By the time I got back to Cologne’s main station, the Argentina v Côte d’Ivoire had just fifteen minutes to run and I watched it in a café with a lot of other fans.
The African team was 2-0 down but when they scored, and set up an interesting finish, a roar echoed all around the station.
Today, however, was the Warriors’ day. The Vikings attacked them repeatedly – but they were repelled.
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