Friday, June 9 2006

‘We can shock the world!’

For football fans across the world, it must seem like the Soca Warriors will be hopping on the first flight back home after the first round.

But don’t approach Leo Beenhakker with that negative philosophy.

Ignoring his team’s tag of lesser known outsiders, the Dutch-born coach Beenhakker maintains a belief that Trinidad and Tobago can pull off the big upset this summer despite being in a group that features tomorrow’s opponent Sweden, England and Paraguay.

“I’m convinced, we can shock the world,’’ Beenhakker told ESPN.com. “On paper, no one expects us to do anything in Germany. Yet, the advantage is we don’t play this game on paper and if we have some good preparation, we can cause some surprises.”

The former Real Madrid boss has already produced a big surprise by carving out a small fairy tale with victory against Bahrain in an historic qualifier last November. Now, he is refusing to join the unbroken chorus of doubters who believe TT’s only contribution to the World Cup will be a few colourful spectators and three fruitless performances on the pitch.

“Of course, in the end, it comes down to whether or not you have the players to achieve your ambitions,’’ he said. “We have a style that I’m sure will be good enough to give us a chance in the World Cup. We will not change our philosophy now. It has taken us this far and we will enjoy the experience this summer.

“People keep telling me we have no chance, we will lose every game. Let’s see what happens when we play Sweden and then we can talk about the England game after that.”

Assuming control of the team with nine World Cup qualifiers still to play in May 2005, Beenhakker quickly formulated a plan that not even the most ardent T&T fan believed would end in Germany this summer.

“We have made it through to the World Cup finals and every game we have played since I started working with these players has seen them make improvements,’’ he said. “That’s what is so encouraging for me.”

Working with a clutch of players based in less-than-glamorous British clubs and a handful of battling performers based closer to home, the coach viewed organisation on and off the field as the key and his planning delivered quick results.

“I looked at the squad and realised there were some good players to pick from,” he said. “Sure, some were getting a little older, but I see a guy like Dwight Yorke as a great performer and believed we could get something out of a player of his quality if we set the team up in the right manner.”

Beenhakker said the big challenge he faced after taking over the team was pulling players from “all corners of the world.” He said the important steps included devising a professional approach on and off the field.

“I wanted to try and change the style the team were playing,’’ he said. “The British-based players had a mentality to hit long balls, but that was not the strength of this team. That may have worked against some of the teams we faced in qualifying, but for a World Cup finals, you need more than that and I have been working on trying to establish some control of the midfield positions. This is the key for our plans.

“In the end, I keep telling the players that the teams we will face in this World Cup are very much like us. They will have 11 players, with the ambition to score a goal between the two white posts. We will all be using the same ball, so let’s not get too excited by our opponents. If we keep a calm mind, maybe there will be something special for us in Germany.”

Like so many international sides around the world, raw talent and passionate emotion can only take you so far and it needed Beenhakker’s experience and knowledge of the game to turn the Soca Warriors into a winning team unit.

He is living proof, if it were needed, that the nationality of a coach matters less than his ability to produce results.

“I don’t think it matters where the coach is born and you should just have the best guy to do the job,” he said. “The passport is not important any more.

As long as you speak the language, understand the culture of the country you are working in and have a good knowledge of the game, where you come from doesn’t matter. I don’t hear too many people in Trinidad complaining that I’m Dutch, that’s for sure.”