Finally, the wait is almost over. The footballing stars will finally shun their club partisanships and fierce rivalries and hoist the national colors. Amid fresh corruption charges against several former and current FIFA officials, the World Cup is just hours away. Despite the fact that international football tournaments are rather slow and sparse than their club counterparts, they certainly aren't behind in terms of entertainment and action. But the unpredictability and the national pride that comes with international football is what I think is the USP of this event.
I remember getting all excited about the World Cup when I used to be a kid. Before the onset of the current internet age, scanning the sports pages of local newspaper used to be the primary source of gathering information regarding the event. I used to read about the historic moments, solve all the trivia questions and make cutouts from the newspaper of my favourite players and the tournament schedule. Being a football crazed kid in a nation which ranks 154th in the world, I always wondered what it would have felt when your country is actually playing at the World Cup. The agony, tension, excitement and nervousness among other surges of emotions over the course of those ninety minutes are somethings I can only imagine.
Thus, being a follower of the religion that is football, my heart goes to the fans in Brazil who will not be able to witness the action first hand despite the tournament being played in their own backyard. Nearly a quarter of a million people have been displaced in the cruelest kind of gentrification project - one that is killing their dreams. A boy who spends the better part of his day with a football and idolizes his national footballing heroes will be left stranded on the streets while some bloke who couldn't tell what an offside is will be occupying the VIP section. A game of football mostly ends with heartbreak for one segment of the fans but many have already felt that even before a ball is kicked. Brazil's politicians are wishing for a World Cup win to pacify the anger and unrest among the population but whether avarice rather than passion can drive the sport forward in the country remains to be seen.
I remember getting all excited about the World Cup when I used to be a kid. Before the onset of the current internet age, scanning the sports pages of local newspaper used to be the primary source of gathering information regarding the event. I used to read about the historic moments, solve all the trivia questions and make cutouts from the newspaper of my favourite players and the tournament schedule. Being a football crazed kid in a nation which ranks 154th in the world, I always wondered what it would have felt when your country is actually playing at the World Cup. The agony, tension, excitement and nervousness among other surges of emotions over the course of those ninety minutes are somethings I can only imagine.
Thus, being a follower of the religion that is football, my heart goes to the fans in Brazil who will not be able to witness the action first hand despite the tournament being played in their own backyard. Nearly a quarter of a million people have been displaced in the cruelest kind of gentrification project - one that is killing their dreams. A boy who spends the better part of his day with a football and idolizes his national footballing heroes will be left stranded on the streets while some bloke who couldn't tell what an offside is will be occupying the VIP section. A game of football mostly ends with heartbreak for one segment of the fans but many have already felt that even before a ball is kicked. Brazil's politicians are wishing for a World Cup win to pacify the anger and unrest among the population but whether avarice rather than passion can drive the sport forward in the country remains to be seen.
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