World Forums

I don't follow the german league that much either, to tell the truth I don't follow sports that close since going out of school, watch an occasional game and keep up somewhat with scores. Hopefully he'll be ok but Tottenham is like that kind of team well enough to not bring out any overly passionate diabatries, not suck crap enough to loath them.

Friendly Result

Norway 2 - Paraguay 2

The US lost 1-0 to Morocco.

Buzz:

Who are the two people who voted for T&T? You and who else

Seriously, I wouldn't be at all surprised if T&T give England a real shock. England can come unstuck against teams they are expected to wallop. A draw is quite probable.

Peyman
Honestly I have no idea. I do hope you are right about T&T giving England a run for it's money. Especially with Rooney out of commission. It would be a nice morale boost for us right now.

Rooney may actually be back in commission...

Buzz:

Honestly I have no idea.

Strange isn't it?
Do you think it was someone with a sense of humour? 8)

heh

England losing at home 1-2 to Belarus

and Belarus got their 2nd goal while a man down

that's kinda embarassing

That wasn't the full England team. There was some first teamers but players like Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard, Robinson, Terry were missing.

even so, that's pretty sad

and how do you know that was the full Belarus team?

I'd assume it was their first team but don't know for sure.

Anyway, it was classed as a "B" international, so it doesn't mean anything. Apperances (and goals) in such games don't even count towards a player's international record (nobody will be getting a cap for this), and the game wasn't even listed as a proper friendly on live-scoring and other websites.

Still, it is a bit embarrassing, have to admit :P

Lord, 25th England team is supposed to defeat Belarus... Not anymore I guess:)

Did Hleb-Bread play?

Peyman A wrote:Buzz:

Honestly I have no idea.

Strange isn't it?
Do you think it was someone with a sense of humour? 8)

You lil' bugger!!!! Hey! fon't forget Senegal surprised France last time, who knows, we could be the surprise this time around. ;)

Rooney may actually be back in commission...

Then again...

Buzz:

Just toying with you darling. I am funny ain't I

Result -- Friendly

Sweden 0 - Finland 0

Peyman A wrote:Buzz:

Just toying with you darling. I am funny ain't I

LOL @Peyman

Who knows, perhaps just perhaps a miracle could happen. At least I can dream.

Leonid

No, Hleb didn't play. I guess it was their reserve team after all

Maybe you guys are right, but I've never personally given much weight to friendly matches, let alone "B" friendlies, so I'm not too worried at the moment.

Belarus did celebrate as if they had won the World Cup, and good luck to them, but they didn't actually win anything so their reaction surprised me a little.

T&T plays Wales tomorrow. A win would be nice right now.

Has anyone else seen the commercial for David Beckham's new cologne?

Yeah, it stinks.

Are you watching the game, Buzzz? I am, and not too impressed with either team so far. Wish Giggs and Bellamy were playing :P

Wales 2-1 Trinidad & Tobago. I thought T&T were the better team and controlled the game throughout the majority of the second half. Their passing was much slicker than Wales (which you'd expect, given that Wales had 7 under 21 players out on the field at the end), and they held on to the ball for long periods of time, but the finishing and the final pass left a lot to be desired. They did not create many clear chances on goal despite having the lion's share of possession.

Furthermore, I was not impressed with the snail-like pace at which they played. You have to pass and play a lot quicker than that at the top level.

I'd also have expected better defending against the Welsh strikers, who gave up a lot in height to the Trinidadian defenders. The big guy Lawrence in particular really messed up for Earnshaw's first goal. You'd expect someone of 6 feet 7 inches to be a little better in the air, but he missed the cross completely, and then lost Earnshaw. He didn't react quickly enough, and that's a very amateur thing to do IMO.

Anyway, T&T were unfortunate at the end, but they need to play a lot better than that against Sweden, Paraguay and England. They certainly need to defend better. I have to say that while I think they WILL play a lot better in the WC than in this meaningless friendly, I do not think the quality of the players (for the most part, Scottish league or lower level English league) will be enough to even garner them a point come the World Cup. .

Perhaps I'm wrong, but when was the last time a team with mostly second and third division players was good enough to compete at World Cup level? Never is probably the answer.

I just got in and was unfortunately unable to watch the game. Thanks for the review, and I too hope they do much better.

Hey Buzzz. Just realised that my review was a little too negative, which was not my original intention.

Certainly the way that T&T passed the ball and worked as a team is something to be proud of. In the past, T&T played too much like individuals, but now, under their coach Beenhakker, are a much more cohesive unit, with a decent tactical awareness of where their team-mates are on the field.

Stern John also took his goal well and T&T have quite a few players with a good degree of technical ability, who are very comfortable on the ball.

They were definitely better than Wales throughout the second half, and probably edged the first half too, so it's not all doom and gloom. It was, after all, an undeserved defeat.

I just think they'll need to defend better to have a chance in the World Cup, as Paraguay, Sweden and England are a lot better than Wales. They'll also need to quicken their pace against the strong midfields they are likely to encounter.

But no, it's not nearly as bad as I made out in my original report.

Denmark 1 - Paraguay 1

I'm telling you guys. Paraguay are going to aquit themselves just fine in this group.

Pabs - Been saying the same thing myself, I've seen them during the WCQs and they have a decent team.

Dull to watch and dirty at times but they could do well.

No problem Marko. I am just a bit soar over missing the game. It would have been nice for our boys of go into the tourney on a positive note. But I guess we can't have everything.

Andrews' fitness a concern for Trinidad
29 May 2006
by FIFAworldcup.com

Trinidad and Tobago coach Leo Beenhakker has voiced concern over the fitness of Marvin Andrews ahead of the FIFA World Cup™ after the Glasgow Rangers defender limped out of Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Wales in Austria.
The 32-year-old has defied medical opinion by playing with a cruciate ligament injury for over a year but as the Soca Warriors prepare for their matches in Group B against Sweden, England and Paraguay, Beenhakker said: "Normally Marvin would be one of my starting 11, but I have the feeling he's still not fit.

"Marvin wants to play and is proud to represent his country. But what I've seen here isn't the Marvin I know. It's just little things with his knee but he needs more time to recover."

The big defender has won 97 caps for his country and would clearly be a significant loss to the team should he not prove his fitness in time. It is a prospect that Beenhakker is having to face.

"I can change a player who can't participate because of injury right up until 24 hours before our first match," said the Dutchman. "I'll wait and hope he'll recover in time and be in Germany with us."

England won 3-1 againt Hungry

Buzz:

Have to say that after watching T&T against Wales, I no longer believe a surprise is on the cards for your boys. It was always going to be a remote possibility really.
I guess it is possible, but they will have to do significantly better than they did against the youthful Welsh team if they want to get a point from any of the teams in their group.

Now that I have cheered you up, I am off to bed!

hehehehe Oh well.... They made it this far, so I guess that will have to be enough.

T&T lost to Slovenia 3-1 today.

Paraguay over Georgia 1-0

Buzzz - I saw the match Slovenia- Trinidad and Tobacco.

Pathetic. Slovenia was playing without 6 first team players and we just destroyed T&T. The fair result would be 10-2 in our favour. I wonder how T&T qualified to the WC. Oh yes, quotas.....

And only nice moment was when Birchall scored a magnificient goal from around 25 metres...

Eusebio
I am beginning to wonder is my boys decided that once they qualified their job was done.

Slovenia setback for T&T

Trinidad and Tobago suffered a second defeat in five days as a Milivoje Novakovic hat-trick consigned the FIFA World Cup™ debutants to a 3-1 loss in Slovenia on Wednesday.
If Leo Beenhakker's men were looking to improve on their 2-1 defeat by Wales last weekend, there was little sign of it in an unhappy opening quarter of an hour in Celje in which Novakovic struck twice past goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, back in the side in the place of Kelvin Jack.

Go to the Trinidad and Tobago team page

Midfielder Chris Birchall pulled a goal back in the 25th minute for a T&T side missing injured defender Marvin Andrews. Striker Kenwyne Jones was also absent due to a sore ankle which meant Jason Scotland partnered Stern John in attack. However, the night belonged to a forward at the other end as Novakovic secured his team's victory with his hat-trick goal 13 minutes from time.

Evans Wise, who has been called into the Soca Warriors' squad to replace the injured Silvio Spann, enjoyed a run-out as second-half substitute.

Beenhakker's side have yet to win any of their recent preparation matches for their first FIFA World Cup finals appearance, having drawn 1-1 with Peru in Port of Spain on 11 May prior to departing for Europe. Their final test before travelling to Germany comes on Saturday when they take on the Czech Republic in Prague.

The Caribbean islanders will face Sweden, England and Paraguay in Group B in Germany. Their first match is against the Swedes on 10 June in Dortmund.

I feel sorry for Socas. They're ina tough group but hey, at least they're there. We're sitting on the couch and watching telly..

Where you belong!

LOL

Eusebio
I still believe in them and hopes that they win at least one match. Jamaica did well in their fist WC appearance.

Buzz;

If it's any consolation, World Cup can bring the best out of teams and players. What happens in friendlies is not a reflection of what happens when the competition begins.

But having said that, don't get your hope up too high darling! Be pessimistic so that you can be delighted if they cause a shock. It's better that way.