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Ensure you build on 2026 success
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago /Sports

Ensure you build on 2026 success

From Trinidad Express · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Context piece
  • Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner urged Trinidad and Tobago's Red Force cricket team to build on their recent championship win, warning against letting it become a one-off success.
  • Warner, who helped Trinidad and Tobago's football team qualify for the 2006 World Cup, drew parallels to that historic achievement, which has not been replicated since.
  • He emphasized that the team needs sustained success to prove their triumph was not accidental and to provide the nation with continued positive moments.

Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner has issued a stark warning to Trinidad and Tobago's Red Force cricket team: ensure their recent championship victory is not a fleeting moment in history. Drawing on his experience helping steer the nation's football team to its sole FIFA World Cup appearance in 2006, Warner stressed the importance of sustained success.

Don’t let this look as being a one-time affair, as an aberration. Do it again for us to show that it is not by accident that you have achieved what you have done.

— Jack WarnerWarner's exhortation to the Red Force cricket team to build on their championship win.

Addressing the team, officials, and guests at a celebratory dinner, Warner congratulated the Red Force on ending a 20-year drought by capturing the West Indies Regional Four-Day title. However, he urged them to avoid letting the triumph become an "aberration" or a "one-time affair." He challenged the players to "do it again" to demonstrate that their achievement was earned through merit, not chance.

Warner's message carries significant weight, given his role in the Soca Warriors' 2006 World Cup qualification, a moment of immense national pride that has yet to be matched. Despite an expanded 48-team tournament, Trinidad and Tobago have struggled to return to football's biggest stage, highlighting how quickly sporting breakthroughs can fade without continued effort.

After 20 years, they were able to bring victory home at a time when the country needed something to lift our spirits. They gave us hope, they gave us comfort, they gave us happiness.

— Jack WarnerWarner reflecting on the significance of the Red Force's victory for the nation.

The championship win arrived at a time when the country sought positive news. Warner noted that the team provided "hope, comfort, and happiness" to the nation. He recalled a lesson from former Prime Minister Eric Williams in 1973, who emphasized that governments recognize achievements, not aspirations. Warner applied this to the cricket team, challenging them and the administrators to work collaboratively to ensure this title marks the beginning of a new era of success, rather than a solitary, albeit celebrated, accomplishment.

What we are recognising tonight is the achievement of our cricket team.

— Jack WarnerWarner emphasizing the importance of recognizing the team's actual accomplishment.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Trinidad Express. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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