Meagan

WITH the World Cup Finals in Germany fast approaching, Trinidad and Tobago’s national football team will be doing battle against the best teams in the world. However, they aren’t the only nationals who’d be competing against elite international competition in Deutschland.

Beauty queen Meagan Monsegue, 20, will also be competing in Germany against 31 other contestants in the Miss World Cup Pageant on June 1 at the Europa Park, near the German city of Freiburg.

“I’m still in disbelief but honoured to be representing my country especially since this is our first time at the World Cup tournament. I’m also a football fan, so I’m enthusiastic about taking part in the pageant,” Megan said.

She was a former goalkeeper on her old school’s, St Joseph’s Convent, St Joseph, football squad. Meagan is now pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and international relations and is a third-year student at FIU. When she graduates in December 2007 she wants to become a United Nations diplomat

She and 31 other beauty contestants representing World Cup qualifying nations will compete in the pageant.

The selection procedure involved 30 TT women being screened for the pageant which was held at the Cascadia Hotel, St Ann’s, a month ago.

However, Meagan was attending the Florida International University (FIU) in America at the time, so she could not attend. So her parents, Susan and Horace Monsegue, submitted photographs to the judges at the screening and she was selected. Megan learnt of her success when her mother called her and informed her she had won.

Meagan will be flying out to Germany on May 27 and will return on June 2. While there she would make several appearances on German television to promote TT as a tourist destination for German holiday-makers.

At the pageant, she will model in sportswear, evening wear and a bathing suit, which are being provided by a German company. She may also be tested on World Cup history.

“I’m currently researching World Cup history, just in case I have to answer questions on it,” she said.

The managing director of Carivog International Valerie Noreiga said the agency is trying to get Meagan to stay on in Germany to support the “Warriors” during their World Cup campaign.

Carivog is also training and preparing her for the European challenge.

“We’re also sourcing some of the national designers to help her with her wardrobe,” Noreiga said.

Carivog is holder of the franchise for the Miss World Cup Pageant. The agency is working on getting Meagan to meet FIFA’s vice-president Austin “Jack” Warner and the “Soca Warriors” squad, hopefully before they take on Peru in a World Cup warm up game on Wednesday in TT.

So, like the “Soca Warriors,” Meagan will be going for glory in Germany.