A 1-0 victory in a controversial game in Bahrain yesterday ensured that Trinidad & Tobago, with a population of just 1.1m, became the smallest nation to qualify for Germany 2006. And the news has been greeted with elation here by the ex-pat population.

The qualification came as no surprise to a local resident who was part of that country?s previous attempts to get to the big stage.

A happy George O?Brien Sr., a goalkeeper for the reserve team back in the 1970s and long-serving Bermuda referee, said the country had made vast progress in football over the years.

?Yes, of course I feel elated, especially since I was part of the national squad back in the late 60s and early 70s,? he said yesterday.

?I didn?t play with the first team, but I spent three seasons in the senior programme and was involved. But the truth of the matter I wasn?t too optimistic for a while because we had to beat a powerful Mexico team to get by before this last match and that was going to be a huge task.

?I felt our chances weren?t going to be good if it meant beating Mexico, but after winning 2-1 I think it was, it made me and probably the whole country feel optimistic about pulling it off.?

The team had nothing but close calls to brag about in the past, having come close on two occasions, once against Surinam in the 1960s and then against the United States 20 years later.

?In that Surinam game the referee made some poor decisions that cost us, we scored six goals but five were disallowed, mostly through offsides and we lost out. And then back in the 80s we needed a draw against the US and we lost 1-0, that really was upsetting,? said O?Brien.

He felt that a spark had long been injected in football in the country, long before this recent feat and attributed the climb of the number one sport to Jack Warner, Trinidad and Tobago?s long-serving football executive who is also president of their association as well as vice president of FIFA.

?He has been helping to push a lot of money into the sport, especially after that close contest which saw the United States get by us in the 80s. Another plus for football in the country is the fact that we have something like 15 professionals abroad, mostly playing in South America, and then we also have a professional football league at home which helps a lot.

?Yes, we had a chance of making the World Cup long before Jamaica became the first Caribbean Island to do so ...now we have got just rewards.

?Football is the most popular sport, it has been number one for a while and cricket is a shadow in comparison. You don?t have football players playing cricket like we have here.?

ZBM presenter Gary Moreno, who cuddled his national flag at the end of last night?s broadcast, was also understandably delighted.

?I?m elated at the news,? he told

?We are not going to win the World Cup but getting to the big dance is the thing. In a way, Jamaica paved the way for us and it is a great achievement.

?We have a lot of professional players in England and it is a very strong side now.?

He added that there were plans early yesterday evening for a get-together of Trinidiadians here, ?nothing formal just a little celebration for us all?.

National coach Kyle Lightbourne, who took a side down to Trinidad at the 11th hour to assist with their qualifying campaign, also expressed pleasure at the result.

?It is good for the region and can give other sides hope,? said Lightbourne, who played on a winning team for Bermuda against the qualifiers although lost his other two encounters against them.

?I think it can inspire other countries, including Bermuda, and show what can be done in international football with the right programme and the right planning.?

And Bermuda?s most successful national coach Gary Darrell also had nothing but praise for their accomplishments.

?I recall my first tour abroad after being appointed national coach in the late 80s, we toured Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados and it was a good trip for us,? he noted.

Darrell said the host were coming off a good camp and successful run of matches and with their full contingent of foreign-based players at home they were expecting to run over Bermuda.

But that wasn?t the case and Bermuda emerged with honours, having drawn a game and winning the second by a 1-0 margin.

?Yes they were upbeat, the whole country was on a high at the time, they were really expecting to hammer us having just come off this training camp. But it turned out good for us,? said Darrell.

?It was the same year they were on the verge of qualifying, needing a victory or a draw against the US. But it didn?t turn out to good for them.

?We have always done well against them, we beat them in the Pan Am Games semi-final in 1967, I don?t know if we are their bogey team or what.?

?But no, I am not surprise they have qualified. I felt that success would come their way sooner or later after losing out against the US on that occasion.?