Nerve Endings Firing Away

The FIFA World Cup 2006 is upon us and entire countries are either shutting down or postponing major decisions until after the tournament. Heck, one country ended its civil war to cheer its team on. Bangladesh burned furniture and demanded vacations to watch the drama unfold even though it isn’t playing. Even the serious National Geographic is getting in the act and asking questions like, why soccer rules the world? The women are loving it too. I am not in India right now and the United States seems pretty much aloof from the football-crazy rest of the world. As I have mentioned before, I no longer have a cable TV connection at home and I simply download the shows I want to watch [I loved ABC's Full Streaming concept]. This strategy has worked like a charm but doesn’t work for events like the World Cup where live action for all 64 games is a must.

Hence, I have had to resort to the next best thing — watching the games at a sports bar. You would think, this not only lets you enjoy the game the way it is supposed to be enjoyed — on the big screen — but also lets you gather around unknown people who are also crazy about the game. So I made some enquiries in a local bar that Ash and I frequent, Fox & Hound. The girl serving us had no clue about the impending tournament adding to my disgust for American apathy for the world’s most popular sport [on the other hand, Europe even has cool advertising billboards]. The girl at the counter of Buffalo Wild Wings had no clue too but she added that if the game was on, they would show it. But I wanted to be absolutely sure so I simply emailed them through their main website. I was pleased to receive a reply within a day that all 64 games would be telecast at their local outlet and a special section would be earmarked for football aka soccer fans. Unfortunately, the games are telecast in the morning and early afternoon and due to some weird coincidence, I have a class at the same time for exactly one month. But thanks to the US TV schedule for the World Cup, I can manage to make it for at least the important league games.

The round of 16 and the quarter finals are conveniently in the afternoon or class can be bunked if a particularly exciting game is at hand. And thankfully, by the time the semis and the final comes around, I should be done with the class. Also, keep a watch on the World Cup blog that has the latest updates with a dedicated blogger for each team. Right now, they have useful pointers on catching the telecast of the friendlies online courtesy some Chinese pirates. I am not sure if it would continue working as the tournament progresses. The downside of course is that the commentary is in Chinese. Now, what better way to learn a language, right? Except the only way you could say “Goal” is to scream it aloud and run around crazily. Pratyush is going great guns interviewing the fans for each of the qualified teams in the World Cup and predictably every fan wants their team to win.

I got my passion for football, thanks to a History of the World Cup video cassette [some excerpts]gifted by an aunt. I must have seen that video umpteen times and it must still lie somewhere at home rendered obsolete and gathering dust. I was totally in love with Dutch team’s Total Football and considered Johan Cruyff to be the greatest footballer [the 1974 Germany-Holland game is one of the greatest World Cup finals ever, followed closely when England won in 1966]. Of course, other greats like George Best, Paulo Rossi, Diego Maradona, Franz Beckenbauer, Zico, and of course, Pele. I had the trivia all hardwired into my brain and was all set when the FIFA World Cup 1990 came around.

I remember that I had coaxed my dad into buying a new television and we were still in the electronics store as Argentina kicked off against Cameroon. Roger Milla and his band of African heroes with their upset win against powerhouse and defending champions, Argentina set the tone for the rest of the tournament as I stayed up late to watch even the most inane games. The passion and the fever of the fans was infectious and although I cheered Brazil (everyone in the Third World does), I was equally happy when Germany narrowly beat Argentina (my brother supported them). I still remember the headlines on the next day’s paper – They lived by penalties and they died by it. The next two tournaments were a breeze and for the last one, I was in the United States. Thankfully, my roommates and other friends were equally crazy and we pooled in to get the cable. The rest of the month, our house was full of soccer-crazy fans cheering late into the night and enjoying Korea’s run to the semis. At Heavenly Café, a local Korean-run business, the cashier and the staff were cheerful and upbeat and even handed out free orders of fries if we mentioned the last night’s game. Thankfully, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, then a rising star clicked at the right moment and Brazil won with much to spare.

This time, I have been woefully out of touch with football news but if Rooney joins in, England looks good. But with Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka, and others, Brazil looks formidable to retain its crown. Ever wonder that in spite of its global appeal, only a handful of countries — seven in all — have managed to win the Cup whereas cricket with its limited appeal and only eight world cups, we already have five different countries that have won it [much extended analysis here]. Ever wonder why?