Losers still feel blessed

For a moment, they fell silent. But after digesting their team's defeat in Nuremberg for a few seconds, the hoards of Trinidad & Tobago fans crammed into the Three Kings pub, their unofficial headquarters in London, were dancing again.

These were proud fans, proud that their players, the smallest team in the World Cup, had progressed so far, and clearly not prone to the gloomy post-match debates of English fans.

For a philosophical Sandra Allun, 56, who came with her family to London from their home in south Trinidad for the World Cup, the match gave them something to be proud of. She said: "As our national anthem says, 'Every creed and race has an equal place and may God bless our nation."

Carl Guichard, 28, a boxing trainer from north London, said his country played "with heart". He said: "Remember we are a small side. It is like Ricky Hatton fighting Lennox Lewis and losing on points." The 300 supporters were in carnival spirit well before the game in Nuremberg began, with calypso music blasting out over a sea of red shirts in the packed pub in Kensington.

And for a while the elated fans even started believing victory could be in their grasp. With their team drawing 0-0 at half time, Marlom Danesh, 32, a baker from Tooting Bec, in south London, said: "We almost had it. It's going to be 2-0 to Trinidad. It's amazing, you can see the players' sweat."

Michael George, 30, of south London, said it was Trinidad's "quality players" who had held England. He said: "It was an excellent first half. Trinidad came closest to scoring. We did not want to draw this game, we want to win it. We have showed we can go up against some of the best teams in the world."

Adam Juman, 33, a civil servant from Woolwich, said: "Every time T & T kick the ball towards the goal, it's a party. I have T & T roots and I just have to support them. If we win today I'll sober up around November time I'd say."