T&T Provide Bulliten Board Fodder For England

Trinidad and Tobago coach Leo Beenhakker wasn’t content with the possibility that his squad wouldn’t be noticed by Sven Goran Eriksson and the Three Lions and thus might surprise them with an even contest. No, he had to go talk smack: “”All I see with my eyes wide open is a team that doesn’t perform when it comes to the World Cup and the European Championships. England have fantastic players, one of the strongest leagues in the world and a population of 50 million. These guys should be prepared for everything but they never win.”

Dwight Yorke, Beenhakker’s captain, tries to mollify the situation a bit — “England have talent throughout the team” and so on — but I expect that Beenhakker has set his squad up for a rougher match than they might otherwise have faced.