Trinidad and Tobago finally paid for 2006 World Cup

CONCACAF president and FIFA vice president Jack Warner tried to keep the players of Trinidad and Tobago's 2006 World Cup squad from their rightful payday, but in the end a London arbitrator, like most judges do, ruled against Warner.

At issue was the complete disregarded for law that the T&T FA and Warner showed for the players. In a contract signed before the 2006 World Cup and negotiated in part by Warner, the players were to get a 50-50 split on all money from licensing and endorsement deals made with the federation. In the end, the FA received $28 million in gross profit from the World Cup, but each of the 23 players only collect $5,000. Somebody's calculator is broken.

Although the judge ruled in the players' favor, the exact amount each one will get will not be known till June, presumably after England plays their 'hay, why not vote for us to host the 2018 World Cup' match in T&T on June 1.

Warner has said that if the T&T FA disagrees with the ruling, they will pursue justice in some other way. Any guess as to what that way will be.

Top 3 US National team goals of all time

The US MNT's blog continues their countdown to the 500th American international match by asking about the best goals in US men's history. With 665 from which to choose, this could take some time. Or then again, maybe not.

Here is my top three:

1. Paul Caligiuri - 1989 World Cup Qualifier vs. Trinidad & Tobago - Without a doubt the most important goal in US history. Without this goal, the US would have missed the 1990 World Cup, would not have been awarded the 1994 World Cup, and would not have got Major League Soccer going. All of this would have kept us from developing into the quality country we are now. But that best thing about this goal is it actually is a great shot.




2. Joe Gaetjens - 1950 World Cup vs. England - Greatest upset in World Cup history. Sadly I cannot find a video of this goal, but it was truly amazing as Gaetjens dove an incredible distance to get his head on the end of a Walter Bahr and send it past stunned goalkeeper Bert Williams.

3. Brian McBride - 2002 World Cup vs. Portugal - This is the perfect McBride goal. He placed himself in just the right spot and headed the ball with the needed force to get what turned out to be the winning goal. Adding to all of it, this is the victory that shocked a lot of Americans into watch the team.


His goal is the third one at about 37 seconds

Honorable mentions:

Benny Feihaber - 2007 Gold Cup vs. Mexico - Just an amazing, top quality blast to win a major tournament. On a side note, it is amazing how similar his goal is to Paul Caligiuri's.



Clint Dempsey - 2006 World Cup vs. Ghana - A great goal from the run of play. DeMarcus Beasley serves it up across the field to an on-rushing Dempsey who buries it.




Gregg Berhalter - 2002 World Cup vs. Germany - This should have been the tying goal in the quarterfinals, but a bad call meant Germany didn't get called for the obvious handball by Torsten Frings on the line. The US owned this game is deserved to toss the Germans out, but their luck finally ran out. And yes, I am still bitter.


The should have been goal is at 1:45

The Brazilians were drunk and Ronaldo is fat and old

It turns out some of the Brazilians from their World Cup squad might have enjoyed a bit too much liquid courage during their stay in Germany. Ricardo Teixeira, the President of the Brazilian soccer federation, has admitted that a group of players often returned to the hotel drunk between 4 and 6 in the morning on the days between matches.

Although he didn't name any players that were drinking, he did lay heavy into Ronaldo.

"How can an athlete arrive for a World Cup weighing 98 kilograms (216 pounds)?" he said, adding that it would be OK if Dunga stopped summoning the 30-year-old striker for the national team.

"How old is Ronaldo today? How old is he going to be in the 2010 World Cup? That's all I have to say," Teixeira said. "We need to find another Ronaldo."

So I guess Brazil isn't over the German defeat just yet.

Teixeira also expressed his dissatisfaction with the way the team prepared ahead of the cup in Switzerland. You know, it is just a shame that Teixeira, as president of the federation, was powerless to do anything about this before it happened.