Soca in Germany

THE WORLD Cup finals motto is “Time to Make Friends” and the provincial town of Kaiserslautern plays host to countless football fans, but most notably those from Trinidad and Tobago.

The smallest of the 12 FIFA World Cup host cities, featuring a pretty old town at its heart, Kaiserslautern is a truly cosmopolitan place. This city at the heart of Europe, boasting excellent transport connections, is a rising star of the IT world, combining research and science in one tightly-knit location.

For three days — before, during and after — TT’s crucial clash against Paraguay, Kaiserslautern belonged to the colourful fans of the team known as the Soca Warriors.

No one could have imagined that TT fans would be nail-biting in their final Group B fixture.

After all, a good win, and a bit of luck courtesy of England, would guarantee a surprise appearance in the round of the last 16 stage, for the smallest nation ever to take part in the finals.

No, instead Kaiserslautern was illuminated by the red, white and black of Warriors supporters. TT, whose world famous carnival ranks alongside Brazil and London’s Notting Hill, have, without question, educated the Germans in the act of carousing.

The biggest and best football party has been highlighted by Fan Fest. Each host city has set aside downtown locations for free live match broadcasts on giant screens. Apart from a standard basic programme and Fan Fest livery, a strong local flavour has characterised the events.

Trinidad and Tobago’s charismatic performer, Calypso Rose, performed the Sunday prior to the game against Paraguay. Football fans from around the globe — Brazilians, Americans, Portugese, Mexican et al — didn’t take too long to start wining their waists and “carrying on bad” to the strains of soca, quite a sight to behold in a notoriously sleepy town on the Sabbath.

The fact that Calypso Rose did her thing in Caribbean-like weather just added to the feel-good factor. The local constabulary, the mean-looking Polizei, had no need to cock their guns, so visibly on show, for an event that must be the ultimate security headache.

In fact, many were visibly itching to rid themselves of uniform, grab hold of the readily-available bottles of beer and party. Those that decided to quite literally “hold fire” were no doubt in the gaze of an even more mean-looking superior.

On Eisenbahnstrasse, just moments from Calypso Rose’s captive audience, steel band Phase II had their audience agog in much the same way. They might not have generated the same energy as their gyrating compatriot, but Phase II still managed to conjure up pictures of Trinidad and Tobago during masquerade time.

Football’s world governing body, FIFA, have come up trumps with their Fan Fest idea.

“This is an absolute first in World Cup history,” commented FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi.

He added: “The host cities have never before opted for a collective programme for the fans on this scale. The cities, working together with the organising committee and FIFA, are providing a framework for a fantastic shared experience.

“It effectively means that every city has two venues, the stadium and the Fan Fest.”

What was not so delightful was watching TT supporters grapple with the language barrier. The German patter suggests they want an argument and that in itself caused problems for some.

It was a sight and sound to behold as natives found just as much trouble with the West Indian dialect.

A secret camera in the local railway station would have brightened any depressive’s day such was the hand-waving, finger-pointing and general bedlam as two very different cultures collided.

If there was a winner, it was the smart taxi drivers, who if they could speak English, intervened and gained a fare — and a friend!

Kaiserslautern is truly blessed by nature. The advantageous location offers huge scope for relaxation, a high standard of living and spectacular panoramas. For some years now, this natural idyll has lived in harmony with the rapid growth of future-orientated, high-technology industries, prompting talk of a German “Silicon Woods.”

France is just a stone’s throw away, and further international flair derives from the region’s US military facilities, a community of some 55,000 American citizens, together with inhabitants hailing from 126 other countries.

Kaiserslautern is partnered with a number of cities overseas, including Davenport and Columbia in the US and Bunkyo-ku in Japan.

The locals have a unique passion for football. FC Kaiserslautern, FCK for short, enjoy cult status in the region, and 1954 FIFA World Cup winning captain Fritz Walter is a local boy who became an icon for a nation.

Like Germany’s three World Cup wins, they also won football’s supreme prize in 1974 and 1990, the town’s inhabitants will never, ever disregard the West Indians that brought a certain magic in the summer of 2006.

The Soca Warriors were also based in Dortmund and Nuremberg as they drew with Sweden and lost to England. But Kaiserslautern was to prove to be a comfortable home from home.

The motto “Time To Make Friends” was keenly observed in Kaiserslautern especially. So much so that before this World Cup is out, many a German will be looking up flight departures to Port-of-Spain with relish.