Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Princesses fought a hard fight on Sunday but in the end, the team went down to defeat by South Korea, ending the Trinidad and Tobago hope of getting into the quarter-final round of the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup. Kim Su Gyong's goal within three minutes of kickoff sealed the matter for the visitors, who took victory with a 1-0 win at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.
The reigning champs will face Germany on Friday at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella.
The defeat did not damped the spirits among the “Soca Princesses” and the thousands who showed up to cheer them on, among them Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
In an speech of encouragement prior to the start of the game, Persad-Bissessar noted that their presence on the field was "a great day for you, and an even greater day for Trinidad and Tobago".
She told the young women that they were engaged in more than a football match.
"Believe me when I tell you what this occasion is: every time you touch the ball, every time you head the ball, every time you tackle your opponent or you pass the ball to your teammate; every time you dribble towards the goal, or you shoot to goal, or you save a shot from going into your own goal; every time you work up the wind to run faster and try harder, to get back up when you slip and fall, and to encourage your teammates to keep pressing on to dominate the play…you’re doing it with the flag of Trinidad and Tobago in front of you, and the people of the red, white and black behind you," she said.
She called their effort "the grandest national moment you have ever been involved in so far, and perhaps will ever be for the rest of your lives". The Prime Minister added, "Way beyond the sidelines and the goal-lines of this playing-field, there are things important to you.
"Way beyond the game and the sport of football, there are people counting on you…people who have brought you to where you are today, and are waiting to carry you to other winning fields elsewhere.
"We women have always had to carry not just the flag, but to carry the Nation within us. Today, the fortune of your country is at your feet. But tomorrow it will be at your bosom. And I want you to know that you are already winners.
"We the people of T&T are saying ‘Win, lose or draw you’ve already proven your mettle’; and as the great Nelson Mandela would say: you’ve shown your “invictus”—your spirit."
Persad-Bissessar told the "princesses" about how the poem "Invictus", which Mandela read in prison.
"It taught him he said, ‘to stand up when all he wanted to do was lie down’. South Africa under Mandela in 1995 hosted the Rugby World Cup tournament, just like we’re doing today in this UNDER-17 Tournament.
"And Mandela used that sport occasion to successfully re-unite the different races in South Africa, inspiring his national team to win.
"Today, we ask you to show to the people of the world that we are united, with our gorgeously different races, ages, genders, economic classes, and political bodies.
"Here's the turth: the few of you represent perfectly the many of us because of your oneness of purpose and spirit.
"Today we are one, with one purpose: go out there not to win, lose or draw…but to play the best football this country has ever seen;
- to show that you are true champions because of your mind and soul and spirit
- to send the message that you are ‘princesses’ today but will be crowned queens
- tomorrow
- to signal that this game and this match and this 'life' is not only for the swift but for those who endure
- to remember Mandela: if there’s a goal against you—stand up, even when you feel to lie down
- and to prove that because you believe in yourselves, in us, in the mothers, sisters,
- fathers and brothers who support you in our red, white and black…you can beat
- anybody who stands in the way of what you deserve
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