YOU could have felt the difference even though it wasn’t something tangible.

And it took Coach Leo Beenhakker just over five games and a few months to finally confess that Russell Latapy is the player that any coach would dream off.

Beenhakker, a man who is obviously a cold professional, was obviously not prepared to get carried away on the emotions of the people who called for the return of the midfield Ninja, granted we all knew in our heart of hearts that Bim and Bam belonged together.

And from the moment Bertille St. Clair called for the return of Dwight Yorke, we knew that Russell -- a player/coach at Scottish Club Falkirk -- should have been on his way home, too.

Even with David Nakhid playing around in the midfield, we all wondered how the synergy would have flowed for us to find that place for the magic touch.

The engine room definitely needed a General; and so it came to pass.

In Russell’s own words, it’s simple: “The situation is one where Dwight (Yorke) spoke to (Jack) Warner and he spoke to me and a decision was then agreed upon.

“Warner made it clear that they would like me to contribute and for the cause at the moment, for Dwight, for Jack Warner and the country, I am willing to do whatever I can.”

Truth is, these two young players, particularly, were treated badly at the end of the dreadful 1990 World Cup campaign, mere boys they were. And while that launched their international careers, all of us -- whether we confessed or not -- were missing the genius of the duo.

While the rest of us cried in collective hurt for failing to qualify after a one-nil victory to the USA at the National Stadium, we did not even reach out to the men who played their hearts out for us, too.

Everybody went their separate ways and the World Cup dream busted up into a million little pieces.

Trinis were obviously too full of themselves to fully appreciate the blessings that we had in Latapy, Brian Lara and Dwight Yorke -- the triumphant triumvirate; the true Trinity!

It’s not that Brian Lara did not shine brightly enough for us in the interim, as he led this country’s blessed sporting trio through a supposedly bad patch.

But, the World Cup campaign resumed and we were struggling to face ourselves as a people.

So as the first game of the second and final round started at the Queen’s Park Oval on Ash Wednesday 2005, there was mixed emotion.

And as this photo shows, a lone protestor came out to remind us that the midfield was non-existent.

The USA beat us 2-1, after all and then as things began to get tighter the call for the return of Latapy coincided with Jack Warner’s determination for this country to qualify which led him to Leo Beenhakker.

LATAPY ... stands at
attention before
qualifying game
against Bahrain.

SAMMY LLEWLYN, a
lone protestor, begs
for a better midfield,
half way through the
World Cup campaign.

RUSSELL LATAPY in
Strike Squad gear
receives another
medal.

RUSSELL (left) in San
Fernando Tech
colours.

When Latapy eventually played that first game for us against Guatemala, it was more than magic.

It was the first game that we had won in a long time and many ungrateful Trinidadians walked away from the Hasely Crawford Stadium on that afternoon still complaining that the midfield general had lost some of his running power.

They did not admit that we also needed an absolute football brain in the engine room and that he had justified his return by scoring the winner.

Joan Latapy’s son, whose father left home when he was two years old, literally carried the silent hope and prayers of a people desperate for a respite from the hurt and pain in the country, much of which manifest in his hometown of Laventille.

He came through for us, as it’s only now that Beenhakker would admit that Russell was the kind of glue that he needed to keep the team together; the inspirational leader who still did not usurp his captain Dwight Yorke.

Indeed, the unemotional Beenhakker would not even take the advice of his compatriot, John Hughes, Latapy’s manager at Falkirk, who has nothing but praise for our number 10.

“Some of the things he does are just amazing and we take great delight in watching it.

“When Russell has got the right head on and he has got the desire, he is a fantastic player.

“It’s just the way he control it and passes the ball, he doesn’t need to break his stride.”

After stints in Portugal with first Academica then Porto -- where he became the first Trinidadian to play in a UEFA Champions League match -- and then Boavista, Latapy moved on to Scotland for spells with Hibernian, Rangers and Dundee United before settling in as player, and eventually player-coach, with Falkirk.

He has won two Portuguese League titles with FC Port (1994-95 and 1995-96) and became the first Trinidadian to appear in the European Champions’ League during the second season.

These achievements came more than a decade after leading San Fernando Tech to the national championship (”Big Seven”) and National Intercol double in 1985.

Latapy has also represented Trinidad and Tobago in two of this country’s four appearances in the Gold Cup: 1991 and 1996.

Going into the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Russell has 64 caps and 28 goals for his country.

Much thanks to the General for the years of delightful inspiration he has given to many of us!