The Magic of World Cup

The world’s most eagerly anticipated sporting extravaganza, the World Cup football tournament is lurking on the horizon. In less than a week the 20^th edition   kicks off amidst   the  magical , exhilarating   musical beats  of samba and  grand   fanfare in Brazil, the Mecca of football.

The countdown has begun. Excitement   and momentum is steadily building up. It won’t be long before   it reaches   its crescendo. The international football community, literally will be on their toes totally   absorbed ,  drunk  by the  enigma and   grandeur of the game.

Fans are   gearing up to become part of  the  month long  gala event,  making sure they do not  miss  a minute of  the   high voltage action packed  spectacle that is magical, spellbinding , gripping and compelling. 

Teeth grinding and nail biting   supporters   will be on   edge, feverishly rooting for their respective teams throughout the competition. They must prepare themselves mentally   to cope with results that may or may not be to their liking.  At the end of the day, they   will be left consumed by a state of overwhelming   agony or ecstasy.

Come  12 June, the world’s very best  32  footballing nations  from all  continents in the world take center stage   in   their  pursuit of   capturing the world’s greatest and biggest sporting honor.

The championship held every four years   has grown by  leaps and bounds in terms of stature and popularity. And it keeps growing by the day, keeping football lovers connected,   galvanized and mesmerized.

Groundbreaking support for  football  across the oceans, deserts, mountains  and plains makes it one of the most loved, followed and watched sports on earth.

Such is the power and magic of   World Cup that it   brings   together people of different faiths, isms and genders under one big umbrella.

If not all the time, at least , it unites the   world  during the entire period of the competition. We all agree that football is more than   just   a  sport and looked upon as   a   form of religion, tradition, festival and carnival.

No   individual or team   sport can   rival football’s uniqueness and   extraordinary appeal.   The massive hysteria,  commotion, mayhem  the game creates on and off the playing field, is unheard of in other sports.

The world wide TV audience for the   competition is  estimated to be  the  in  the billions. Indeed, the number is astounding and   staggering.  

Reports suggest that the World Cup is expected to generate   a whopping $ 27.7 billion in revenue for Brazil .  Besides, FIFA    hopes to   rake in   millions   of dollars from TV commercials, as well.

Irrespective of the situation, football goers around the world   will   make and find ways to watch the action that is so close to their hearts.  Since the majority of matches will be televised live, people will be glued to their TV   sets, watching games in the comfort of their own homes.

With boisterous and friendly atmosphere, restaurants, pubs and   sport bars   have become   increasingly popular spots amongst sports lovers, and  World Cup followers with friends   will make their presence in a very big way to catch the game.

Besides,   people gathering in public squares to watch matches   on giant screens will  be another   familiar sight throughout the competition.

The unfortunate ones in rural areas without electricity will have to depend  on battery operated television sets to keep  abreast of  the  tournament. This , obviously, is a testament to their love  of the  game.

Hosts Brazil is under intense scrutiny for its sloppy preparedness and readiness for the colossal event. Critics have rightfully expressed their concern and disappointment over the organizer’s failure to complete necessary infrastructures well in time.

The matter of fact is that work is still taking place on a war footing to complete some stadiums where matches are scheduled. Even legendary footballer Pele was critical and termed it very unfortunate and unacceptable.

In light of recent protests by anti World Cup groups in Brazil, security issue has become a major concern for the government. In spite of everything, there is no stopping to the grandest show on the planet. They say  the  show must go on, the game don’t stop.

Everything will be forgotten when Brazil   battles   Croatia on 12 June at the  Arena de  Sao Paulo (59,955 seats), Sao Paulo in the opener, thus marking  the start of the World Cup.

The 32  competing teams  are   divided   into eight groups  and matches will be played  in 12 venues with the  final game at Maracana  Stadium (71,159 seats) in Rio de Janeiro, the biggest stadium in Brazil.

One might not have his/her country in the competition but certainly everybody has a team to support, cheer and root. Since the advent of the World Cup, international support for Brazil and Argentina has grown manifold .

The South American giants’ exciting, aggressive, skilful, innovative and exquisite   brand of football makes them the darlings of   the world.

They   have    always entranced   fans   with their top-notch performance and  earned high praise, respect  and admiration worldwide.  Not a surprise their fan following goes beyond imagination.

The World Cup, once again will see   die hard supporters rally around their favorite teams. Spotlight will be on two FC Barcelona teammates, Linoel Messi and highly rated youngster Neymar de Siva  Santos Jr , representing Argentina and Brazil respectively.

Cristiano  Ronaldo (Portugal), Luis Suarez (Uruguay), Mario Balotelli (Italy), Wayne Rooney ( England), Robin van Persie(Netherlands), Juan Mata (Spain) and  Andres Iniesta (Spain) are some of the marquee   players  to watch at the quadrennial event.

European and South American teams have   totally dominated the World Cup having won   10 and 9 times respectively. Interestingly, only two teams outside these two continents have ever made it to the semi-final stage. They are USA (1930) and S Korea (2002).

The game of football is incomplete without mentioning the names   in the likes of Pele, Maradona, Johan Cruyff,   Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini, Alfredo Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas, Eusebio, Gerorge Best, Ronaldo and many more. These names have become synonymous with international football.

Brazil’s Ronaldo with 15 goals   is the all time top scorer. German   Miroslav Klas with 14 goals stands a very good chance to overtake him in this year’s World Cup.   

The million dollar question on everyone’s mind is: who will win the World Cup?  No one has a definitive answer. Or no one can absolutely predict the final   outcome. The whole thing, in fact, is shrouded in mystery?

Well, at least,   we   can guess and pick the winner of our choice. There is no harm in doing so. You got to  hope your team wins.

There is seemingly endless debate   going on now in the sports world.  What would the debate be about, other than the World Cup and the teams   most likely to win football’s biggest prize.

Football experts are painstakingly engaged   in   dissecting, analyzing, evaluating each and every team in the fray. They have their own logics, opinions, conclusions and favorites when it comes to distinguishing the real contenders from the pretenders.

No matter what, Brazil, Argentina, Spain and   Germany    always figure in the contenders list. Should any team outside this bracket end   up winning the championship, surely, it would become the upset of the upsets.

 

Five times World Cup   winners   Brazil, the only country to have played in every World Cup starts as one of the hot contenders.  They are   looking for their sixth title and   Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has a highly talented youthful side to accomplish the feat.

The last time the Brazilians won the trophy was in 2002. Since then they are desperately looking to end nearly a decade  of World Cup draught .Undoubtedly they are hard to beat at their own back yard but have to be at their very best to win every game. 

That said, let us remind ourselves that Brazil did lose   at home to Uruguay in the title game of the 1950 World Cup. The outcome is considered to be one of the biggest upsets in the history of World Cup. This time , as always, expectations are high.

Brazil has shown good form of late, thus offering supporters plenty of hopes of winning a sixth title. The depth of talent  is  incredible . It is very obvious that they are under tremendous pressure to deliver the goods.

A lot depends on whether they can handle the pressure and   play their natural game. To succeed they must play above their potential for   every game. 

Sensational Neymar carries the burden of high expectations and his performance is crucial  to the  team’s success.

Winning the World Cup is a dream comes true for the world’s   most lethal striker Messi . This is one trophy the  Argentine badly wants, and he knows the team’s success largely rests on his shoulders.

By and large, Argentina must put  together an outstanding and consistent performance to have a chance to win the championship.

We can all agree that Spain is the team to beat. Although they seemed to have lost some of their  spark, still they  have the  arsenal , game, talent and  ability to repeat their last World Cup winning performance.   

Players like Marco Reus, Mesut Ozil   makes   three times World Cup  champions Germany a very dangerous outfit. Ranked second in the world,   the Germans have the recipe to win the World Cup.

Also in the title chase are  former World Cup winners  Italy (4 times),  Uruguay ( 2 times),England (1 time), France (1 time).These teams, though, given little chance by football gurus, cannot be completely discounted or dispelled.

Then there is  unknown Colombia ,   a complete  team  capable of winning the coveted trophy for the first time. Their true strength  lies in  the   rock solid defense and prolific  goal scorer  Radamel Falco.

Don’t count out talented Belgium and the Netherlands. They might just turn out to be the tournament’s dark horses.

African nations  have become a force to reckon with in world football lately. This time the continent’s hope rests  on  Ghana ,Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon. 

Surely, they have the potential  of  reaching greater heights

The quarter-final is the   best ever result achieved by a team from Africa. Cameroon (1990)  Senegal(2002) and  Ghana(2010) were the three quarter-finalists.

Asia’s  hope hinges on South Korea, Japan and Iran .  Admittedly, the odds don’t favor them. They must  step up and come through  with a stellar performance to catch critics on the wrong footing.

The  semi-final spot  achieved by S Korea in the 2002 World Cup  is  the  best ever result for Asia so far . How can we forget North Korea’s epic 1966 World Cup performance, when  they beat Italy   1-0  to reach the quarter-final, before losing to Portugal 5-3,after squandering a 3-0 lead.

Never mind the statistics or predictions. There is so much uncertainty surrounding sports, nothing can be taken for granted till the final stroke of play. After all,  football is a sport. So  don’t lose hope in your team. You got to believe that anything can happen and things happen out of the blue.

Just relax and enjoy watching every   bit of the enticing drama unfold. Brace yourself for the best and the   worst. Never mind  your team wins or loses, it is all part of the game. Enjoying the enthralling spectacle in  the true spirit of World Cup is more important than anything.