Cricket fan's football love in
By Denise Hernandez
When my country Trinidad and Tobago qualified for the World Cup for the first time, I knew I just had to be there.
I was planning an amazing trip to Germany with other Trinidadians, who lived abroad, but who all supported our national team, the Soca Warriors, through thick and thin. It promised to be one hell of a ride.
Our first hurdle was getting tickets for all three of the group games as we had heard many stories of people losing out because of the high demand for tickets. But we soon got the tickets and it was on to Germany.
The atmosphere was amazing, at every game there were so many Trinidadians, I thought 'the whole of Trinidad a Tobago must be here'. We saw so many people in Trinidad and Tobago T-shirts, it was crazy! There were also many, many Trinis who came from all over the world just to be part of history.
At each game, the stadium became a sea of red, white and black Trinidad and Tobago flags and when our national anthem started playing, you could hear the pride that each of us felt, as we lifted our voices - tears came to my eyes at every game.
Actually, football is not my favourite sport, it's cricket. And as we headed to one of the games, a television crew stopped our group for an interview. Of course, I took the chance to send best wishes to the West Indies cricket team which was playing India back home in the Caribbean. If I wasn't in Germany, I'd certainly have been at a cricket match cheering on the team.
Everything about Germany 2006 was great, the food, the beers, the train rides, the whole atmosphere, everything.
Most of all, the six new friends that I met on that trip that I was able to share this experience with. In the past people used to save autographs of famous people, me, I like to take pictures with them. It proves that you were there. My photo wall says, "I was there, and this is my story of World Cup 2006!"