The Beautiful Game that Enchants One & All!

Whoaaaa! It footloose time again, its time to rock n roll, its time to go berserk, its time to unwind and dive into the magic of breath taking, exhilarating and nerve wreaking excitement, its time for FIFA World Cup, its time for 31 days of uninterrupted highest quality FOOTBALL action! But the question is why is our nation is going crazy about the football world cup? Afteral neither we have our national football team featuring in the tournament nor football is the game which we follow so avidly. Hence, it's a bit strange that a nation which eats, sleeps and breathes cricket is not talking about India's prospects in the forthcoming Asia cup or Yuvraj Singh's exclusion from the ODI team or for that matter Sir Sachin Tendulkar's prolonged rest regime, rather they are counting days and minutes left to the start of football extravaganza or possible magic that will weaved in the world cup by the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Rooney or Torres. The reason is simple and universal, this 90 minute game is the most widely played and watched sport on the planet earth and almost every person born on this planet has somehow or the other definitely played this sport, no wonder it evokes so much passion and interest among the masses irrespective if their color, creed or nationality.

So even a lay man who is technology deprived, has no knowledge about the rules of the game or has no live access to these electrifying contests, understands the game and supports/ follows a team just by a simple logic that his team has to get the ball to the opposite post and not let the ball get in their own post, which is certainly no rocket science to understand and follow. Actually I have no qualms in admitting that I am no better than these guys when it comes to the matters of football literacy. Infact, I don't even know much about the superstars in the world of football but by virtue of my soccer crazy friends and reverberating media I can proudly name 10-15 heavyweights of the game and the ones who are most popular are also my favorites for this world cup:). But it’s not that I don't enjoy watching soccer or I don't have any interest in it, it’s just that I have hardly managed to take some time out of cricket and invest it in football or I failed to cultivate this football sense at the right age and hence I can't debate or express my views on soccer issues with the same authority as I do for may be some other games like cricket or tennis. Obviously I am not those types who religiously follow those midnight English Premier League or Champions League matches and grieve or rejoice on them for next few days, but yes I am certainly among those who once in four years take a plunge in this world cup bandwagon and enjoy it to the fullest. Though I have also come across some people who are hard core leftists talking in comparative terms and always ready to fight and justify how and why their favorite sport is better than football. But luckily I don't fall into this bracket either, cricket is undoubtedly my favorite sport but I don't have any animosity with any other sport either, and when it comes to soccer and soccer world cup specifically, the fun and ecstasy derived from it is different, special and incomparable.

And if we talk in terms of sheer statistics than no other sport is a match at all to this beautiful game. If we consider the numbers of this world cup, 32 countries will play 64 games to fight it out for 31 days across 10 different venues for the covetous 6.5 kilogram trophy and a total prize money of $420 million, of which the winner’s share is a mamoth $31 million. And spare a thought for the amount that this world cup will pump into South African economy, a whooping $12.64 billion, apart from creating almost 7 lakh jobs.And if we talk of popularity, almost 4 lakh visitors are expected to visit southafrica to be a part of this outstanding phenomenon with an expected live viewership of 3.3 million and a TV viewership of 27 billion. Take a breath, whoa! Now is there a match to this gigantic phenomenon? By any stretch of imagination NO. As always this world cup is the biggest ever,earth shaking in its size, symbolism and significance. And not just in numbers but in the sense of movement and pride too.

So no denying the fact that you just can’t escape being a part of this greatest show on earth.It’s like, you may love it, you may hate it but you just can’t ignore it. Football is more than just a simple game, it symbolises the power to bring people together regardless of their language, colour of skin or their religion. Football does this magic of making people smile and believe even amidst their age old foes of poverty, illiteracy and hunger. So let us put aside all our worries and take a plunge in this football fever yet again by shaking on the WAKA WAKA tune and letting those millions of VUVUZELAS roar!

Salute to the magical game of FOOTBALL!

WAKA WAKA….this time for AFRICA:)

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