PARAGUAY 2-0 TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Paraguay”s disappointing FIFA World Cup campaign finished on a high note as they beat Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 in Kaiserslautern”s Fritz-Walter-Stadion on Tuesday, 20 June 2006.

The Soca Warriors, meanwhile, depart Germany without a win or goal to their name, and yet the pride of Leo Beenhakker”s team remains firmly intact, with this gallant defeat typical of their energetic, courageous performances throughout their debut tournament.

Much of this match was, in fact, dominated by a T&T side who fell behind to the most unfortunate of opening goals, headed past his own, helpless goalkeeper by Brent Sancho in the 25th minute.

The second half provided entertaining and competitive fare, and saw Paraguay weather a sustained Soca storm before securing their only points of the tournament with a coolly-taken 86th-minute strike from Nelson Cuevas.

The match:
A Mexican wave swept around the stadium in Kaiserslautern in the minutes before kick-off. Both sets of fans were determined to lend their own colour to the game, with plenty of Trinidad and Tobago flags waved by people from the Caribbean islands as well as neutrals who had adopted the team during the competition.

2″: Edgar Baretto swung a free-kick into the box that Roque Santa Cruz met with a glancing header. The effort looked to be heading towards goal, but Kelvin Jack made a superb save, springing to his left to tip the ball around the post for a corner. 

5″: At the other end, Dwight Yorke picked out Cornell Glen, whose header was turned away by Aldo Bobadilla.

7: A Trinidad and Tobago corner from the right was only partly cleared by Carlos Gamarra. The ball came to Aurtis Whitley on the volley, but the midfielder”s effort was well off-target.

9″: The Barretto-Santa Cruz combination went close again for Paraguay, but this time the Bayern Munich man”s header sailed over the top of the crossbar.

12″: A Yorke free-kick was headed clear by Carlos Paredes, just before Stern John could pounce to steer the ball past Bobadilla.

16″: The referee, Roberto Rossetti, awarded Trindad and Tobago another free-kick in a central position which Yorke floated into the box, just as he had done on the previous occasion. This time, Bobadilla punched it away, although the unease of the Paraguay back four was clearly apparent.

23″: Another lovely floated ball from Baretto into the box found Nelson Valdez in a central position, but once again the header was off target.

25″: The deadlock was broken when Roberto Acuna”s free-kick was flicked on by Julio Dos Santos and turned into his own net by Sancho. The Gillingham defender could not hide his disappointment upon seeing the net ripple and the blue shirts of Paraguay converged together in celebration. (1-0)

30″: Paredes earned the first booking of the game for a late foul on Whitley and the first substitution was made. Kenwyne Jones came on for Avery John and almost made an immediate impact when his powerfully struck free-kick was blocked en route to goal by one of his own team-mates.

40″: A stretcher took Glen off the field after the LA Galaxy striker suffered a serious-looking knee injury. He was given a warm ovation as he was carried to the dressing room.

42″: Santa Cruz powered his way down the left flank, beating several Trinidad and Tobago defenders in the process. He cut inside, made his way into the box and fired a low drive which flashed across the face of the goal.

46+”: Acuna curled the ball in from the left and only a fantastic save from Jack denied the Paraguayans from doubling their advantage. From the resulting corner, Densill Theobald”s goal-line clearance left Paredes with his head in his hands.

Explosive restart from T&T: 
47″: Trinidad and Tobago made a bright start to the second half, typified by Jones” lung-bursting run through the centre of the pitch. He squared the ball to Carlos Edwards, whose low cross into the box was only inches away from being met by Yorke.

55″: Paraguay created their first chance of the second 45 when Santa Cruz touched the ball to Paredes on the edge of the box, but the Reggina man”s effort was comfortably gathered by Jack.

62″: Yorke burst through the midfield and played the ball to Edwards on the right. His cross narrowly evaded John in the area and fell to Theobald, who blasted the ball into the side-netting. In the same minute, Santa Cruz went close at the other end after a quick break by the South Americans, but his shot whistled just wide of the upright.

63″: Jack was called into action by strikes from Santa Cruz and Barretto, however, the Dundee goalkeeper proved equal to both.

71″: Chris Birchall skipped past the challenges of several Paraguay players, but the midfielder lost his balance just as he was about to shoot and fired over.

75″: With 15 minutes of the game to go, two of T&T”s most experienced players, Russell Latapy and Yorke combined well on the edge of the box, but the former Manchester United man fired his shot well wide.

77″: A knock down from Jones found Latapy on the edge of the box and his left-footed volley was only inches away from hitting the target.

80″: Trinidad and Tobago went close twice in the space of a minute as Paraguay”s good fortune continued. John was just inches away from converting a Jones cross and the former failed to get any real purchase on a headed effort just seconds later. 

86″: With Trinidad pushing for an equaliser, Paraguay scored their second of the game. Good interplay on the edge of the box saw substitute Cuevas work a clever one-two with Santa Cruz before firing past Jack. (2-0)

In conclusion:
Paraguay collected their first win of Germany 2006 in their final match, leaving them in third place in the Group B table behind England and Sweden. Trinidad and Tobago, meanwhile, can feel a little frustrated not to have gained a share of the spoils, especially for their attacking second-half performance. 

Group B Standing

Team		MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
	ENG	3	2	1	0	5	2	7
	SWE	3	1	2	0	3	2	5
	PAR	3	1	0	2	2	2	3
	TRI	3	0	1	2	0	4	1

(fifaworldcup.com)