Jun 11, 2006, 0:19 GMT
Dortmund - The dancing was set to go on into the night in Dortmund - at least by the Trinidad and Tobago fans.
A supporter from Trinidad and Tobago prior the group B match of 2006 FIFA World Cup between Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden in Dortmund on Saturday, 10 June, 2006. EPA/ACHIM SCHEIDEMANN
The red and black-clad ranks from the tiny Caribbean island group turned parts of the stadium into a writhing, jubilant flag-waving wall as they celebrated the goalless drama Saturday against Sweden.
Reserve goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, 37, on the football scrapheap just last summer, became his side's hero with stunning saves that denied a Swedish attack that included Champions League winner Henrik Larsson and Juventus centre-forward Zlaten Ibrahimovic.
Not bad for a keeper who was on the verge of quitting football when English Premiership side Portsmouth dumped him at the end of the 2004-2005 season.
When Singaporean referee Shamsul Maidin blew the final whistle after a tense three minutes of injury time, elated teammates piled on top of Hislop on the field as if they had just won the World Cup.
On the sideline Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker, who rescued the Caribbeans' World Cup qualifying campaign, pumped both fists in the air.
Then, he was picked up on a free transfer by London's West Ham - as third keeper.
Hislop was picked up on free transfer last year by West Ham, joining the London club as their third keeper behind Roy Carroll and Jimmy Walker.
Injuries to those two meant he was suddenly between the sticks again and he kept his place until the end of the season, appearing in the FA Cup final against Liverpool in May.
He might have considered that his swan song, but the World Cup has proved him wrong. An injury to Leo Beenhakker's first-choice keeper, Dundee's Kelvin Jack, meant he was pitched into Trinidad and Tobago's World Cup opener - and he rose to the challenge, pulling of a man-of- the-match show.
The blue and yellow-clad majority Swedish fans could only gaze in disbelief. They take their football seriously, have a feared strike force from Arsenal and Barcelona. And had nothing to show for it.
The contrast could not have been bigger in the Westfalenstadion, a German stadium which is home to Dortmund fans renowned for being the most loyal in Germany and among the most colourful.
So it was, in a way, nothing new for the ground when the representatives of the 1.3 million Trinidad and Tobago population who had made the long journey turned on the song and dance.
Their party began colourfully, was barely dampened when Avery John's expulsion cut the team to 10 men, grew in a mix of disbelief and hope, and finally erupted in sheer delight at the final whistle.
The 2006 World Cup had its first sensation - first-time minnows, outnumbered, defying a group favourite and giving their second favourite sport a good day out.
And if they played the other game in Sweden, they might just be saying it was just not cricket.
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