Frosted Swedes

Sweden vs. Trinidad & Tobago. It's supposed to be a rout for Sweden, which is good for my fantasy team, have Henrik Larsson on it.... Early Swedish free kick, like 19 yards away; no go.

Still scoreless 12 minutes in, even though Sweden's totally dominated play it's a victory for T&T to keep it 0-0 so far. T&T has a good coach, he seems to have drawn up a game plan of staying back, maybe after a while as pressure grows on Sweden they'll attack more.

0-0 32 minutes in, this is actually shaping up to be a pretty interesting match. T&T has had a couple good scoring opportunities, Sweden a few more, but nothing super-threatening. Swedish fans starting to get a bit restless.

No score, approaching halftime. Some decent shots on goal for Sweden, but T&T is beginning to counter attack a bit more effectively. Except for Germany riding the home crowd, the favored team has struggled in every match so far. English fans must be taking heart from Sweden's troubles so far.

ABC announcers saying the T&T goalkeeper was a very late substitution before the game, their starter apparently was injured; he's made some pretty good saves, announcers say he's becoming the storyline. It's a pretty good announcing team, not as judgmental as the first one.

Halftime. This is very surprising... Sweden had been averaging a ridiculous 3 goals/game in qualifying, they've got to be frustrated and a bit worried. As the match wears on the over-matched T&T team might be in trouble, but so far they're playing pretty disciplined and not at all awed by the stage.

Univision is much more serious about showing all aspects of the match--they've got the players coming back out onto the field, milling around. Ready to restart, will be interesting to see what kindof adjustments Sweden made. Oh my gosh! T&T's best player just got his second yellow card and thus is gone, Avery John is out--on what just looked like a strong tackle, the Swede is limping off. So now it's 11 vs. 10... on top of everything else. Very bad luck... but whatever the result at least T&T shutout Sweden at full strength.

Boy, you gotta root for these guys, still 0-0 nearly 10 minutes into the second half. They substitute with an attacking player, instead of a defender; heck, they're going for the win! Longer this match goes on, more pressure on Sweden. If they can't get 3 points out of this, it really doesn't bode well for their chances to get out of the group.

Socca Warriors are really playing with a lot of heart, they've rarely gotten into the Sweden end this half so far but keep trying. Once the Swedes get their first goal, they could then score a flurry... but we'll see. Wow, T&T on a breakaway, a clean shot at goal--hits the crossbar, the best scoring chance of the second half!

Wow, then at the other end T&T goalkeeper makes a great save at point blank range... Shak Hislop, officially the story of the game, at age 37 no less. 11 shots on goal by Sweden, 5 by T&T.

T&T players and coaches have been saying they're for real, aren't just here to enjoy the experience. Nobody believed them, but now.... Is this them being good, or Sweden bad? Swedes make a substitution, see if this helps. 30 minutes left in the match. So far Sweden hasn't had any odd man rushes, can't really tell they have a man advantage--the entire second half has been played in T&T's end, but really, just a couple of dangerous moments for T&T.

Corner kick for Sweden, see if they can take advantage. Their 6th corner announcers say, T&T have none. Another substitution for them, their players have got to be getting a bit tired--and now their fans making a lot of noise.

It's weird, soccer players are always falling down and seemingly getting injured from a level of contact that's absolutely normal in the NBA (not to mention football). Now a Swede's injured and taken off--from running into another player. How?! A few minutes later, and he's stnading up, ready to come back in.

Collision with the T&T goalkeeper, but no other Swede around to take advantage, defender knocks the ball out. Some chatting going on between a Swedish and a T&T player--now more Swedes are laughing, this is insane; they should be upset and going for the win, not being good-natured with their opponents. 20 minutes late, still nothing from the Swedes.

Another yellow card to T&T, for wasting time on a free kick. The Swedes have really been imprecise today, have not looked good. If this score stands up, it's really going to be a shocker. Really, ever single team from Latin America has played better than people thought... maybe I've just been reading the wrong reports.

About 10 minutes left in the match, more sloppy play from the Swedes. Looks like two subs coming in for them, no more substitions left for them, T&T still has one. Oh, and Sweden's best chance of the game, clean shot at goal, goalkeeper comes out and saves it!

And now T&T gets their first corner kick of the game. T&T coach is smiling, fans are excited, but nothing going on the kick. Another chance for Sweden on the other end, no go; then a clean tackle from behind kills another close opportunity. 8 minutes left....

Mayhem, as Sweden gets more chances, but nothing. Now their 7th corner kick; poorly executed. Now just 2 minutes left in normal time... and Larsson gets a yellow card on a tackle outof frustration. 3 minutes of stoppage time... announcers speculating if T&T will go for the win now. Swedes pouring it on, going all out but its sloppy play continues, fans are deflated, whistling.

And that's the game! And the smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup ties Sweden, which continues its streak of never winning its World Cup opener. T&T players and fans are celebrating like mad, Swedes are in disbelief. Wow, what a great game.

Odd, it's not until in the studio afterwards that they mention Hislop, who was Howard University's goalie (in the 80s!), was a NASA intern. They make the requisite rocket science joke, then toss to golf without showing any match highlights; thank god for Univision.

AFP photo of John Stern and Olof Mellberg via FIFA.