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World Cup 2006 Blog

From our reporters in Germany

SWEDE NOTHING

matthew_roberts.gifDORTMUND - Lot's of debate on what to title this blog entry, so it's open to a vote at the the bottom. But first what a a game !! Sweden against Trinidad and Tobago was just an absolute epic. Great ground, great atmopshere and the right result. It was one of those games it was just fantsastic to be at and everyone in the ground loved it. We were lucky enough to interview some of the Trinidad player's afterwards and they'd just loved every second.

A couple of things stand out for me. Chris Birchall in midfield was magnificent and just never stopped running. Dwight Yorke was just class in everything he did, and the Swedish fan who managed to walk up the stairs balancing three pints of lager whilst being on the wrong end of a very long afternoon in the sun was little short of sensational. The fans of both teams were great - by the end nearly everone was cheering for Trinidad. Doing interviews later, the Trinidad players were fantastic. Shaka Hislop said he'd only found out he was playing 20 minutes before kick-off, whilst Chris Birchall admitted they were all surprised when Leo Beenhakker decided to tackle the problem of a sending off by sticking another striker on. Just a great match and Trindad won alot of friends.

A couple of people had been asking in the blog what the Italians have been up to...and after keeping a low profile all week, they suprised all the journalists by playing a friendly match against the Duisburg under 19's in front of about 15,000 fans on Friday night. It was a strange night. Coach Lippi was clearly keen to show he was relaxed about all the scandal that's been going on around the team - he sat on the bench smoking a cigar and signing autographs as the world's media crowded around. Defintely a show of defiance before their first game.

Finally, must just come back to the Sweden-Trinidad game. My best effort at a blog title was "Trinny and Success", Twammers came up with "Swede's mashed" (rubbish but i don't want to discourage him with his first efforts) whilst Gaskers came in with "Shak attack". In the end I went with Hager's "Swede Nothing" - but was that the right choice ???

Comments  Post your comment

  • 1.
  • At 02:37 AM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • John Clode wrote:

lots

lot's is how we spelt it when we were twelve before we were told better and forgot

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  • 2.
  • At 02:43 AM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • John Clode wrote:

lots

lot's is how we spelt it when we were twelve before we were told better and forgot.

then got a job at the beeb

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  • 3.
  • At 02:56 AM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • John Clode wrote:

a lot not alot

every one not everyone

just an absolute epic
just fanstastic to be at
just a great match

just too much

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  • 4.
  • At 06:02 AM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • Kevin wrote:

Some nice observations...but you missed the one thing that's had me scratching my head since this match. What was up with all the stuff blowing in the air in the stadium? A rare June snow flurry? Someone shearing sheep inside the stadium?

Trivial, yes--but it was distracting and maddending to this home viewer.

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  • 5.
  • At 08:23 AM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • Abdusalaam wrote:

Yeah I was wondering myself. What was that white stuff floating in the air?

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  • 6.
  • At 09:43 AM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • Paul Esson wrote:

Agreed best match of the tournament so far - for pure entertainment and good old "underdog does well" ending. However, can T&T muster themselves for a repeat performance on Thursday v England or have they had their 15 minutes of fame? Interesting to note that some pundits were already seeing the three points for Sven's men and speculating about the next stage. Whatever happened to the cliched but sage "one match at a time" philosophy?

As for Shaka - sensational performance with 20 minutes notice to get his gloves on too!

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  • 7.
  • At 09:51 AM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

Matthew:

At the match, Sweden versus TNT may have been pretty exciting. But for those of us watching at home, the match was the most boring match so far.

Congratulations, though, to Trinidad. They fought long and hard, and thoroughly deserved the point.

Cheers,
The Gaffer

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  • 8.
  • At 10:13 AM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • Furious wrote:

Concerning all the white stuff floating around in the air during the game: pollen!

Those pollen were beautifully lit by the evening sun, so they shone while flying around. If there were allergic persons among the players on the pitch, they maybe had a hard time.

While the game itself was rather boring to see on TV, the atmosphere in the stadium must have been absolutely fantastic.

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  • 9.
  • At 11:08 AM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • Hannah wrote:

As a Swedish supporter I must say I'm pretty broken-hearted by yesterdays result, but the T&T squad really impressed. They will power and attitude towards the match were supreme, but that won't take them into second round... I still hope for England and Sweden to go forwards, I'll hold my fingers crossed on the 15th, come on Sweden!

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The pollen is everywhere in Dortmund and it's set my hayfever off something rotten - I've only got seven tablets for the whole trip and am in danger of using them all up very quickly.

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  • 11.
  • At 11:57 AM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • David Baldwin wrote:

I think my TV must be bust. I never noticed any white stuff floating around so absorbed was I in a gripping and exciting match.
Must have been watching a different game to some of you. Maybe I was watching it on ITV?

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  • 12.
  • At 12:55 PM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • pete wrote:

Surely you mean Hislers, Burchers and Yorkers?

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  • 13.
  • At 01:33 PM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

Well I watched it on TV and it was anything but boring. A totally absorbing 0-0 draw, played in a great spirit. The pollen only added to the World Cup festival feel.

Are those of you who thought it was boring not confusing it with a certain other match played earlier in the day? ;)

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  • 14.
  • At 01:37 PM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • Sean wrote:

The match yesterday was excellent.
What a great rearguard action by T&T. Of course it wouldnt have been necessary if John hadnt gotten himself sent off for two reckless challenges.

I would be gutted if i was Swedish, but its all good for England. I only hope that T&T cant put up the same level of performance in two games running.

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  • 15.
  • At 01:49 PM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • Derek Giles wrote:

The conclusive evidence on the white stuff floating around is that it was an amalgam of Lars Lagerbacks nose hairs,dislodged due to the hyperventilating.

Derek
The English Wrinkle

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  • 16.
  • At 03:07 PM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • "Trini to d' bone" wrote:

As a Trini, I am very proud of T&T performance yesterday, very proud indeed! Despite some calls from the ref that I thought were uncalled for, including playing with 1 man short, and being (dis)favoured to lose by margins of 8-nil and the like, the Soca Warriors held their own and held Sweden at a 0-0 draw. Not the best result for us, but pretty darn good!

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  • 17.
  • At 03:43 PM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • Matthew wrote:

Pete,

Too many S'if i'd gone with Birchers...would have confused our little team

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  • 18.
  • At 04:24 PM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

Did you consider TNT Are Dynamite for your title for this entry?

No, didn't think you would have done.

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  • 19.
  • At 05:36 PM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

Saw all the white stuff on the TV, but we had the sound turned off so didn't know what it was. Turns out to be a great result for England but I just hope that the Soca Warriors don't have such a warrior like performance against the boys in the white shirts.

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  • 20.
  • At 06:16 PM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

Trinis...small but mighty!

I am a proud trinidadian. Even though my small country is not known for its excellence in football, we have great potential to attain greatness. It might be seen as a fool's dream to say we will win the world cup but it is not a fool's idea to say we will give our all and shock and amaze everyone in the process.

England's performance was not up to par with the world reknowned ability. I hope by thursday this turns around, so when the Trinidad and Tobago Soca Warriors defeat them, it will not be by chance of luck.

Watch out world, here we come!

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  • 21.
  • At 11:03 PM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • Benet wrote:

I just got back from Germany, having attended the Trinidad and Tobago v Sweden game in Dortmund to support Luton Town's very own Carlos Edwards! All of you are correct, the atmosphere in the stadium was absolutely electric; every save, pass, and shot was cheered and met with enthusiastic chants of "Soca Warriors!" and "T&T! T&T!"

Incredible, incredible experience.. Even though it ended as a draw the T&T fans (myself included) erupted in jubilation as it felt like they'd won! The Swedes in front of us were distraught, and they must have felt like they lost. It had all the emotion, drama and excitement of a five-goal thriller and it ended 0-0!

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  • 22.
  • At 11:20 PM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • Sophia wrote:

As a Trini living in London, I was really proud of the team. Good luck for Thursday's match against England. Can't wait to cheer you on to get through to the second round in Kaiserlautern in person!

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  • 23.
  • At 11:54 PM on 11 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

As a Trini living in the USA, I am very proud of my team. I can't wait to see them in action at full strength against the US soccer team. I hope the Soca Warriors know they are still the underdogs, and need to work just as hard, or even harder against the US team.
Did you consider "Trini Triumph/Swedish Sorrow"?

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  • 24.
  • At 03:00 AM on 12 Jun 2006,
  • Jonelle Salter wrote:

It's really interesting reading all the comments about this match. I am a die hard Trinbagonian supporter (we must remember the Tobago in Trinidad and Tobago - Dwight Yorke was born there for crying out loud!) and believe we can do anything we put our minds to - like beating England on Thursday. My prediction though, is that Leo B will go for a draw against England and a win over Paraguay to take us to the next stage.
Saw the white stuff on the Tele as well - guess it wasn't snow huh?

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  • 25.
  • At 04:34 AM on 12 Jun 2006,
  • Kevin wrote:

Master Tactician - Leo Beenhakker

I thought the Don again was excellent. I am quite familair with most teams squad for this world cup. Leo used what i thought was an excellent line up for this game and showed his character further more when A. John went off. I expect that Leo will use the same squad for England for a 0-0 draw and an attacking tyoe squad for a 2-1 win over Paraguay. This is assuming Trinidad can play with the same spirit as against Sweden

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