It had been a long day of celebration for Trinidad and Tobago's returning heroes.
The usual 45-minute journey from the airport to downtown had become a victory parade, as Port of Spain took to the streets to greet its team of history-makers. The Caribbean islanders were going to their first FIFA World Cup™ and for some six hours footballers and fans savoured the moment.
It was now 11pm but for Dennis Lawrence, the most important journey was yet to come. "Look you've got to go home now," said his brother, Sherwyn Williams. With that they got into a car and drove for 15 minutes out of the capital to Coconut Drive in Morvant, the district where Lawrence grew up. "I got there a bit late but there must have been something like 80-90 people – all my family and everyone I grew up with, they'd come out on to the street to celebrate. It was very emotional."
The FIFA World Cup can resemble a land of the giants, a showcase for football's most celebrated names, yet stories like Lawrence's return to his old street, Marigold Crescent, are integral to its appeal, adding a welcome layer of romance. After all, the last time a team from the Caribbean featured on the world stage – Jamaica at France 98 - Lawrence was living the life of a foot soldier in the army and playing his football for the Defence Force team.
National hero
Today he is preparing to make history with a Trinidad and Tobago side who will become the smallest nation ever to compete at a FIFA World Cup in June. And it was his goal that got them there, the 2m tall defender heading the winner in the play-off second leg in Bahrain to secure a 2-1 aggregate triumph. Ask him how it has changed his life and he replies modestly: "Basically it seems I'm a bit more known by a few people... People have told me I became something of a national hero back in Trinidad."
Lawrence has made 58 appearances for his country since his debut in 2000, the same year he swapped being a soldier for the life of a professional footballer. He moved to Wrexham, a modest club in north Wales playing in the fourth tier of English football. From this low rung on the football ladder to the FIFA World Cup finals is quite a step. "When you play international football, it is more a tactical game," he says of the contrasting challenges that club and country bring.
"You get more time on the ball but you have to think that bit quicker, and there is a difference in technical ability and fitness. You've got to be clued up for 90 minutes – you try to do that for your club, of course, but in international football when you don't do it you get punished a bit more."
Of course, you also learn a bit more. The key to the Soca Warriors' success, says Lawrence, has been the capacity of their Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker to imbue self-belief in a squad that had been struggling in CONCACAF's final qualifying round. "Leo Beenhakker came and what he did was make us actually believe that we can do it and that none of the other sides are any better. Obviously he has got so much experience and I have realised there are a lot of things I can learn from him. He gives us the freedom to express ourselves on the pitch. He is a confident manager and his confidence rubs off on the players."
Special date
The easy assumption, given the presence of a sizeable portion of their squad in British teams, is that T&T's most-awaited game will be the encounter with England on 15 June. Yet for Lawrence, the opening Group B assignment against Sweden five days earlier is the one. "I think that will be the most special for us as it is the first game we will ever play at a World Cup."
Ask him how T&T will fare in their finals debut and Lawrence says his goal is to "go out and prove to the world that Trinidad and Tobago is a footballing nation as well as a tourist destination". Assessing their opponents, he goes on: "We were always going to be the underdogs. England are tipped by some people to win the World Cup. Sweden are a very, very good team and Paraguay too.
"It's going to be very difficult for us but as long as we keep the belief I see no reason why we cannot give a good account of ourselves. After three games in the final round of qualifying we had one point. We looked out of it but we came together and did it in the end. If we can achieve that why can't we go on and achieve things in the World Cup?"
Lawrence is hoping some of his family will be able to make the trip to the finals to see T&T's story unfold, but his colleagues at Wrexham may not be so fortunate. "Lots of them are asking for tickets but unfortunately I am going to have to say no to many of them."
Rooney reunion
It was at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground that the big central defender first came up against arguably the toughest opponent he will face in Germany. As if his story was not rich enough in romance, he was on the field on the October night in 2002 when England prodigy Wayne Rooney, then a 16-year-old with Everton, struck his first ever goals in senior football, scoring twice in a 3-0 win over Lawrence's team.
"He came on as a substitute and he was such a nippy, quick little player. At that time he was young and raw, a bundle of talent waiting to explode." Great things were expected of Rooney even then but in Lawrence's case, their reunion in Nuremberg in June really is a tale of the unexpected.