Sweden were held to a goalless draw by debutants Trinidad and Tobago in their 2006 FIFA World Cup opener that took place on Saturday in Dortmund. With this result, Sweden and Trinidad share second place in their Group B standings with one point each, two behind England who beat Paraguay 1-0 earlier on Saturday. Trinidad were forced to make a last-minute replacement after goalkeeper Kelvin Jack picked up an injury on the way back to the locker-room after the team's warm-up, which gave the chance for West Ham's Shaka Hislop to feature and excel. Hislop assumed the role of Trinidad's savoir as he pulled off a string of magnificent saves to deny goals from Sweden Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson and other Sweden front-men. Sweden took possession of the ball for the majority of the match and managed to infiltrate the Trinidad defense easily but without avail. Larsson presented the Swedes with their best chance in the first-half when he headed a Freddie Ljungberg cross only inches over the crossbar.
The Soca Warriors, on the other hand, were pinned down for most of the first-half Cornell Glen posed T&T's only chance with an excellent drive that hit the bar. The first red card in the world cup went to Trinidad's Avery John only seconds after restart following a harsh tackle on Sweden's Christian Wilhelmsson. Sweden made a host of attempts to open the score during the second-half but were unlucky at finishing the ball into the Trinidad net. Hislop superbly held on and denied late efforts from Ibrahimovic and substitute Marcus Allback Sweden will next play against Paraguay in Berlin on Thursday, while Trinidad will face England in Nuremburg.
