On a personal note, this week so far has been one of sadness, disappointment, and total annoyance.
Sadness because my eldest brother, Brian, a real sports enthusiast, succumbed to his illness and departed this life early on Sunday morning. He was a devoted Chelsea fan (yes, I continuously empathised with him) but he loved horse racing more than anything else. He owned many horses and I had the pleasure of having a 50 percent share in one with him.
Unfortunately, the Jamaican-based horse was doing well and on one race day, he suddenly fell and passed away from a suspected heart attack. Well, I never heard the end of that as true to Brian’s form, I was accused of being the blight as he told many people that he never owned a horse that fell in a race and died from a heart attack. But, of course, it was my fault. Needless to say, I never owned a horse with him again but when it came to the thoroughbreds, one could not argue with him as he felt he knew more about the horse than the horse itself.
The people that knew him would tell you it was a waste of time arguing any sport (or perhaps anything) with him as he had all the answers. To be honest, we had many fights, as do many siblings, especially when I refused to allow him to have his way with a disagreement when it came down to Liverpool and Chelsea. I will certainly miss him when the English Premier League gets going early next month. He would be the first to call me if Liverpool ran into a stumbling block. I would return the favour when Chelsea faced one. May he rest in eternal peace.
Disappointment came this week with the performance of the Women Soca Warriors. I thought the 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Canada was not the kind of result any team pushing for a place in the World Cup would have wanted. My excuse was they held up until the 67th minute, but to concede five goals in the last 23 minutes was as a result of either a lack of concentration or the fitness level of the team was not what it should be. Still, losing to the number six team in the world meant moving forward the results should not only be better, but the possibility of victories could be something supporters of Trinidad and Tobago football could have looked forward to.
The performance against Costa Rica was poor. Trinidad and Tobago seemed naive in their play which clearly showed up against Canada but also against Las Ticas. The red card shown to Kedie Johnson in the 22nd minute showed a complete lack of thoughtfulness and it makes me wonder if the women are really playing with the heart and soul that we saw from previous Women Soca Warriors teams in years gone by.
While the first three goals consisted of two deflections and an own goal, I don’t think one can argue a case that the fight and determination from a team that was trying to qualify for a World Cup were on display. Did they not understand the tactics and how to play the game especially when the team went down to 10?
A few minutes after kick-off, it was obvious to me that there was only going to be one winner, one team that was pushing for a place in the 2023 Women’s World Cup and it was not Trinidad and Tobago. The team looked like they were playing a practice match, trying to get their tactics right and deciding on the positional play of the players. Quite frankly, the Women Soca Warriors looked lost during the 90 minutes against Costa Rica.
Next, against Panama, nothing really changed. To be honest, Panama is no better than Trinidad and Tobago but they wanted to win the game and at least get into the intercontinental playoffs for a chance to qualify for the World Cup. So, what went wrong? Was the team tactically naive? Did they not want to go out there and fight tooth and nail for the red, white and black? Was the team not fit enough? Did Trinidad and Tobago not field its strongest team? If so, why not? Did Trinidad and Tobago take a team not seasoned enough for a tournament of this nature? Did Trinidad and Tobago take a development Under-23 team that truly had no chance of qualifying for a World Cup?
I am sure many of you are tired of all the excuses when Trinidad and Tobago goes into a tournament and loses or does not achieve whatever goal is set out for the team. If Trinidad and Tobago goes into any sporting tournament, the aim must surely be to win at all costs. I am hopeful that a thorough post-mortem is conducted on the performance of the Women Soca Warriors and the results of that post-mortem are done quickly. Let the chips fall where they have to as supporters deserve the truth about the poor performances of the team, in not only failing to win a game but also not even scoring a goal. It is time people are held accountable.
Lastly, my total annoyance stemmed from the West Indies ODI team in the first game against Bangladesh. Stupidly, I predicted the West Indies would win the game and complete a sweep against the Bangladesh team. I did not make my prediction based on history as Bangladesh has done well in the last couple of years in this format of the game and the West Indies have struggled to beat them.
My prediction was based on the current tour and with the poor form of this Bangladesh team especially without Shakib Al Hasan, I thought they were there for the taking.
Losing the toss on a tricky wicket did not help the cause. Once again, the batting was a letdown and no one decided to take matters into their own hands and battle the good Bangladesh bowling attack. It is high time this ODI team starts to deliver the goods and they cannot hide behind the fact that this is a new team with a new captain as most of these players have been around the international circuit.
These players have to work harder at their game and have the discipline to turn the fortunes of the ODI matches around. Just look at young Gudakesh Motie playing his first game. One could have seen his inspiration on the field to do well. Hopefully, other players can follow Motie.
The second ODI was played yesterday. Like many of you, I hope I am wrong and the West Indies hammered Bangladesh.
Editor’s note: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of any organisation of which he is a stakeholder.