St. John’s alum plays in World Cup

While the borough spent the first week of the World Cup following their favorite countries and players, one of our own made an immediate impact on the field.
Former St. John’s University defender Brent Sancho (1996-97) became the first member of the Red Storm’s glorious soccer history to participate in a World Cup. Even more impressive, Sancho found himself starting for Trinidad & Tobago against Sweden over the weekend in the country’s first-ever World Cup appearance. He helped Trinidad & Tobago stun many observers by tying Sweden, 0-0, in front of a crowd of 65,000 in Dortmund, Germany.
Making Trinidad & Tobago’s feat even more impressive was the fact that the team played with just 10 men for nearly the entire second half. Defender Avery John received his second yellow card of the match and was disqualified almost immediately after the halftime break. But Sancho and the Trinidad defense kept the Swedes from finding the back of the net to help Trinidad earn a point in its World Cup debut.
Trinidad & Tobago next takes the pitch on Thursday, June 15, at noon, when they face perennial power England in a pivotal Pool B match-up. England defeated Paraguay, 1-0, on Saturday, June 10 and sits atop the group with three points.
“No one expected us to get a result against Sweden but we always believed in ourselves,” Sancho told ESPNsoccernet in a preview of the upcoming match with England. “Who knows what can happen now?”
“Getting a draw against Sweden is the biggest moment in our footballing lives,” he continued, “but hopefully it will get even better in this tournament.”
Sancho, who was born and raised in Belmont, Trinidad, started playing soccer at the age of three. He was part of the Red Storm’s 1996 national championship team, and went on to play for Dundee of the Scottish Premier League before signing with his current team, Gillingham Town FC, in August 2005.