The Soca Warriors belong to the people of TnT. President of CONCACAF, Austin Jack Warner, delivered this patriotic comment at the farewell dinner in honour of the Warriors at Sepp Blatter Hall, Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence, Macoya, on Friday night.
By Michelle LoubonEarlier in the day, the Soca Warriors had been touring far-flung places in the Southland?Mayaro, Rio Claro, Tableland, Hindustan, Princes Town, Debe, San Fernando, Chaguanas and Sangre Grande.
?Never before in my life have I seen such a warm reception. In Debe, schoolchildren had been lining the road for hours. They just wanted to touch a Soca Warrior. They wanted to get an autograph.
?Thousands of people of all ages, races, creeds and political affiliation came out to see the Soca Warriors.
?I say that to say the Soca Warriors do not belong to the TTFF, (Oliver) Camps, (Roger) Boynes or to me. The Soca Warriors belong to the people of T&T. Not even (Chris) Birchall belongs to England.
?My experience this morning taught me that you belong to the people of Trinidad and Tobago,? added Warner.
Warner advised the Soca Warriors to not be intimidated because they are the smallest country to have qualified for the World Cup in Germany.
?In your shoulders and boots you carry the hopes and aspirations of a people, a nation, a country. You are carrying the hopes and dreams of 1.2 million people.
?This Soca Warriors were asking: ?what have we done to deserve this??
?If it didn?t mean anything, it means something to you now. Wear our colours well. Wear the red, white and black well.
?You must do well and perform to the best of your ability. You must remember the sea of humanity wherever you go,? ended Warner.
Show the world the stuff we are made of
Austin Jack Warner told the gathering at the farewell dinner for the Soca Warriors on Friday night that he had been ?abused? by English journalist Andrew Jennings.
?It pained me to know he was aided and abetted by people in my country. It pained me to know one of my newspapers gave him front page and back page, when I could not even get in one line,? said Warner, at the Sepp Blatter Hall, Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence, Macoya.
?But, people like me must show him we can?t only play football, but administer,? Warner said.
Referring to an incident at the airport on Friday, Warner said:
?I was harassed, pushed, shoved by this same Englishman in my country.
He pushed a microphone in my face. He burst my face this morning.
I had to apply some ice.
?If you look closer, you would see where he burst my mouth. He did all of this in my country.?
Warner?s troubles didn?t stop there.
?He called my mother-in-law...my 80-year-old mother-in-law and abused me.
?He travelled to Barataria and attempted to climb her fence. She?s 80 years old. She had to close her door and run inside.
?I ask the question tonight, what have I done to deserve this in my own country??
Based on his negative experiences, Warner had a word of inspiration for the Soca Warriors:
?You, too ,will be vilified and harassed. You are at the World Cup finals, my friends. There is no Scotland, no Russia.
?People will abuse and vilify you and ask you what are you doing here.
?When they taunt you on the hopes that the team would lose, or you would lose your temper and get a red card, I ask you do not to go down to their level (loud applause).
?Even if you do not win a single match and that would not be the case, you would show the world that good manners and respect are not the sole preserve of them.?
Then Warner echoed collective nationalistic and patriotic sentiments.
?I ask you to go out and represent this country in ways this Englishman cannot represent his.?
