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A Global Tapestry: Goals, Heritage, and Halftime Shows at the 2026 FIFA World Cup

By DU Beat July 25, 2026

Apart from being the biggest tournament in the world of football, the FIFA World Cup is also a celebration of heritage and cultures from across the world. From the quiet respect of Japanese fans practising atarimae to the roaring Viking row of Norway, the sartorial statements of the DRC, and Cape Verde’s astonishing underdog run to the knockout rounds, discover how the beautiful game united diverse nations. The tournament featured countless memorable moments, only a few of which are captured in this article.

The FIFA World Cup comes back to us every four years and brings with it a passion and love for the game like no other. Every four years, the world gathers to witness the magic of football. It accepts everyone—the seasonal fans, the die-hard football lovers, the loyalists, the fans who support every other team, and even the ones who do not really understand the rules of the game find themselves drawn towards any screen broadcasting the matches. This is what sets the FIFA World Cup apart from many other major sporting tournaments. It’s not just a battle of who reigns supreme on the field or has mastery over controlling the ball; it undeniably brings the world together. After all, football knows no borders.

But beyond goals, the FIFA World Cup 2026 offered us so much to look at and ponder over. It truly has been one of a kind. From it being the only football World Cup with 48 countries competing to an American classic Super Bowl-style halftime show being introduced for the final match, the audience has been kept on their toes the entire tournament!

This World Cup has been home to many “firsts”. Starting with the hosts themselves. For the first time in the history of the FIFA World Cup, three countries—the USA, Canada, and Mexico—had the opportunity to host the tournament in collaboration with each other. The list doesn’t end there. The number of countries competing in the tournament was also the highest that it has ever recorded. This year, a grand total of 48 teams were competing for the golden trophy. For some tiny nations, it was their first appearance at this international jamboree of football; for others, a return after a very long absence. Countries like Curaçao, Cape Verde and Bosnia and Herzegovina got their names recorded in the list of countries playing the World Cup for the first time.

With fans from all across the globe filling stadiums, what grabbed more attention than the bright and colourful national flags being waved around every corner was, undeniably, the rich cultural heritage and idiosyncrasies celebrating the beautiful game.

Every country harbours in itself a distinguished way to celebrate victory or show support. The USA is often associated with loud and expressive celebration. But Japanese fans who travelled around the world to support their national team playing in the tournament performed something that earned huge respect from others. They showed their support and love in a quiet, dignified way. It would be wrong to assume, however, that Japanese fans aren’t vocal enough or fierce in their support. Terrifying face paint, showing up dressed as fearsome samurai, and even cheering their team with gusto are testimony enough. But at the end of every match, regardless of the result, we have seen them stay behind to clean up after themselves, producing plastic bin bags seemingly from nowhere and leaving the stadium as they found it. This habit reflects their deeply rooted philosophy of atarimae (things that are naturally expected) and meiwaku (avoiding causing trouble to others). The Japanese, in this way, paid their respects to the venue, the host and fellow attendees. This is not their first time practising it; the Japanese have been doing this ever since their debut in the FIFA World Cup in 1998.

In the list of the countries that returned to the World Cup after long years of not qualifying, the Norway national team remained undefeated when it came to capturing the hearts of its audience. Be it the 6’5″ striker of the team quickly becoming the most beloved star of the netizens or their beautifully blended cultural heritage while celebrating, the team has undoubtedly got us wrapped around their fingers. Their Viking row celebration was arguably the hit of the tournament. Devised by fans in a pub back in Oslo based on the legends of Norse seafarers, the celebration showcased a wonderful tapestry of Norwegian heritage, folklore and passion for the game. Executed with equal gusto and passion by both fans and players, the call of the Norse horn, blown to announce it was about to begin, sent a ripple of excitement around the ground. Beyond this, fans won American hearts by embracing the local culture just as their own. Social media couldn’t get enough of star striker Erling Haaland buying cowboy boots and hats in Texas and his return to Oslo with a taxidermied raccoon under his arm.

Norway striker Erling Haaland arrives carrying a taxidermied raccoon after the 2026 FIFA World Cup. — Erling Haaland returned to Norway with a taxidermied raccoon.

If we are talking about capturing the centre stage at the 2026 FIFA World Cup for cultural and historical benchmarks, it would be extremely unfair to not talk of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country last appeared in the tournament in 1974, when it was known as Zaire; after that, it had a long hiatus. Ruled by the then President Mobutu Sese Seko, who was famous for his leopard-skin caps, the team got the look upon their touchdown in Houston, styling it out in custom-tailored black suits featuring bold leopard-print panels and lapels and throwing down a sartorial marker. But such a peak fashion statement is not where it stops. They had fans scurrying into history books with the sight of superfan Michel Kuka Mboladinga’s standing statue still on a plinth for every minute of their matches.

DR Congo superfan Michel Kuka Mboladinga stands motionless during a 2026 FIFA World Cup match. — Michel Kuka Mboladinga has been a regular at DR Congo’s matches for more than a decade.

Despite having quite an underwhelming tournament, Scotland had its fans winning over Americans with their antics of celebration culture. It was the first time the Tartan Army’s team had made the World Cup finals for 28 years, and they were determined not to let go without enjoying themselves. Boston witnessed the Scottish fans take over the city within days of arriving—drinking bars dry, putting traffic cones on statues’ heads, leading locals on a merry dance through the parks and public places of Boston, invariably accompanied by bagpipes. Beyond their little antics of putting cones on top of statues lies a lesser-known Scottish ‘tradition’. This tradition is known to have started in the 1980s in Glasgow as a late-night, drunken prank with the equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington outside Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art getting “crowned”. This soon turned out to be seen as an unofficial symbol of Scottish culture.

Scotland's Tartan Army supporters celebrate with Scottish flags during the 2026 FIFA World Cup — Scotland fans with the Tartan Army

For 96 years, the FIFA World Cup had never witnessed the ground getting converted into a temporary stage for singers during half-time. A half-time show specifically. The World Cup final has religiously followed the same routine at half-time ever since it was established: punditry, tactical analysis, and players regrouping in the tunnel. But this year, the New Jersey stadium shook fans across the world with an intense lineup starting with Madonna. The other headliners of the show were Shakira, BTS, and Justin Bieber, with Burna Boy, Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the PS22 Chorus, and Coldplay.

Shakira performs during the first-ever FIFA World Cup halftime show at the 2026 World Cup final, dancing with performers in colourful costumes. — Shakira performs at halftime during the FIFA World Cup Final on July 19 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino spoke on the show,

“As the world unites for the most significant football match in history on Sunday, 19 July 2026, at the New York New Jersey Stadium, this groundbreaking spectacle, curated by Chris Martin of Coldplay, will celebrate football, music and our shared values, ensuring a legacy that transcends the final whistle.”

However, all this glamour didn’t go without heavy criticism. Sports medicine experts and football officials have warned that prolonged breaks can disrupt players’ physical rhythm, and IFAB has previously stated that extending halftime could negatively impact player welfare and safety because of the longer period of inactivity, potentially increasing the risk of injuries when play resumes. More critics argue that this move has drawn comparisons to the Americanisation of football, while broadcasters like the BBC and ITV were initially reluctant to air the show, preferring their usual halftime analysis before agreeing to broadcast it. Now, will this become a newly added tradition to the FIFA World Cup final? The question remains.

Lastly, the piece would remain incomplete without a note on the tiny island nation and the most captivating underdogs—Cape Verde. They have not just played the matches with diligence and a top-notch game plan but have created a history that will be remembered for years to come. They defied multiple odds to become the smallest country to earn a spot in the World Cup knockout round. With a team cobbled together with journeymen who plied their trade in the lower leagues of Europe, this band of misfit brothers held the mighty Spain to a draw in the group stage. The Cape Verdean belief that hard work and dedication will one day be rewarded was perfectly captured in the story of the side’s 40-year-old goalkeeper, Josimar José Évora Dias, better known as Vozinha. We witnessed him make 18 saves across four matches that the team played, making it difficult for international superstars like Vinícius Júnior and Lionel Messi to get past the last line of defence. Upon the team’s return to Cape Verde as nothing less than heroes, Vozinha was honoured with a newly discovered sea slug named after him.

Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha waves to supporters after a 2026 FIFA World Cup match, holding the national flag inside a packed stadium. — Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha soaking up applause at the 2026 World Cup.

And just like that, the tournament has come to an end with Spain lifting the golden trophy, but more than that, for 39 days the matches have lifted the mood of its fans by bringing tremendous joy, passion, and love for the game. The tournament doesn’t only showcase goals or incredible saves but rather works as a platform blending together cultures, traditions, and celebrations from all over the world.

Image Source: Getty Images, Alamy

Chandrani

[email protected]

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Qatar 2022: the Ugly Truth of the Beautiful Game

By Siddharth Kumar November 24, 2022

The FIFA World Cup is a global sensation. The Qatar edition happens to be the most expensive one yet – financially and morally.

Eight years ago, in June 2014, a phenomenon was taking the planet by storm. The FIFA World Cup was taking place in Brazil – the home of flair, samba and carnival. Like any other 10 year old, I found myself glued to the TV to figure out what all the fuss was about. The aforementioned TV was broadcasting a match between Spain and the Netherlands. Well, the little boy version of me knew Spain was supposedly a big deal that had won the last World Cup and that one of the players in the Dutch team played for Manchester United and wore my birthday number. All I knew was that his shirt said “v. Persie” with the number 20 and it was enough to change my allegiance. And then, he shocked the world (and little me) by scoring one of the most outrageous goals in the history of the sport.

That was the day, dear reader, that this boy found a new thing to obsess over for almost an entire decade. I wasn’t alone either, football or “the beautiful game” is the most widespread sport on the planet. For context, there are 195 nations on Earth, with 193 being member nations of the United Nations. FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) has 211 recognised national football associations – 192 of which are fully recognised independent nations.

The FIFA World Cup is the culmination of this obsession with kicking a ball into a net and it takes place every four years. It is a celebration of the sport and a month-long tournament that invites the 32 best footballing nations across the globe to represent their national teams and take home the golden trophy. This week, on the 20th of November, 2022 the 22nd edition of the competition was kickstarted in Qatar.

In 2014, the World Cup was played in Brazil – the home of the record five time champions. Since then, it has been played in Russia in 2018 and now, in Qatar in 2022 and both these editions of the legendary competition have seen allegations of corruption and general backlash. Qatar, though, has been especially ensnared by a web of scandals surrounding the entire tournament.

The first scandal took place way back in 2010, when FIFA was deciding where to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups amongst the nations that had bid for the opportunity. Two months before the organisation was supposed to announce the winner, it had to suspend 2 of its 24 member executive committee – that was in charge of selecting the host nation – due to them being accused of offering to sell their votes. The two men would later receive temporary bans from FIFA. Four years later, leaked emails implied that Qatari football official and former FIFA executive committee member, Mohammed bin Hammam had allegedly bribed FIFA officials to ensure the success of Qatar’s bid. At the time, he had already received a lifetime ban from FIFA in 2011 for unrelated corruption charges. There were subsequent investigations by both: the US Department of Justice and the Swiss authorities into FIFA’s alleged corruption. Over the next few years, several FIFA officials were convicted of corruption charges and were arrested, banned from football or forced to go on the run. The most prominent of these was then FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, resigning shortly after winning a reelection campaign to his fifth consecutive term. In April 2020, the Department of Justice released new evidence that again implied that three FIFA officials had received bribes from unnamed intermediaries to vote for Qatar. However, while almost all of the then FIFA executives were arrested, fined or banned in police raids and prosecutions, neither the US Department of Justice nor the Swiss authorities could ever connect the other end of the bribery string to Qatar.

Fair or not, Qatar had won its bid in 2010 and that meant preparing to welcome the best players of the world in 2022. One problem, though: the small Middle-Eastern nation wasn’t equipped to play a tournament as big as the World Cup yet – and that meant investing. And invest it did – the Qatar World Cup is the most expensive World Cup in history. The country had the cash for it and thus went on to spend 220 billion USD in building seven stadiums, a new airport, a series of roads, metro system and about 100 new hotels. An entire city was built around the stadium that will host the final match. Qatar’s government says that over 30,000 migrant workers from countries like India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and more were hired to build the infrastructure for the event. In 2021, The Guardian reported that, according to numbers provided by the aforementioned countries’ embassies, over 6,500 migrant workers had died working on the event since Qatar had won its bid in 2010.

Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers is not new. It is a result of poor labour laws and the kafala system (a sponsorship system where workers are tethered to their sponsors in legally binding contracts). In 2016, a non profit organisation, Amnesty International, accused Qatar of using forced labour by withholding wages and passports. Migrant workers told Amnesty International that they received verbal abuses and threats when they complained about not being paid for several months. Nepali workers were not even allowed to return home after the 2015 Nepal earthquakes. Amnesty further accused FIFA of failing to stop the stadium being built on “human rights abuses”. Qatar did go on to implement reforms such as implementing a monthly minimum wage and reforming the kafala system. However, these reforms have still been described as too little too late by human rights organisations across the globe. 6,500 people had still needlessly died in the 11 years before, the new minimum wage was still too less for Qatar’s high living costs and abuses were still taking place albeit to a lesser degree. These abuses have seen backlash from other football associations as well, especially the US, England and the Netherlands. Various professional footballers have regularly talked about the long list of allegations against the country. England and the Dutch national team have even invited migrant workers to train with the squad in a show of support. While Qatar has definitely taken steps to address the situation, one must wonder if a country that needs global backlash to start changing its abusive ways is a good candidate to host an event that is supposed to bring the world together.

I think for what we Europeans have been doing for 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologising for the next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons to people.”- Gianni Infantino, FIFA President defending Qatar

With a history of human rights abuses, it was not long before the world would show up at Qatar’s door accusing them of sportswashing. “Sportswashing” is a term coined by human rights activists in the 2010s to describe regimes with a reputation of oppression and cruelty using sporting events to clear up their reputation. In recent years, there have been many accusations of sportswashing made in the football world. The previous World Cup held in Russia was accused of it, and so was the Russian oligarch and one of Vladimir Putin’s trusted advisors, Roman Abramovich. Abramovich was the former owner of Chelsea Football Club and his regular millions of dollars of investments into the club brought it much success over the past decade. In Abramovich’s case, it worked: after Russia invaded Ukraine, the British government forced Abramovich to sell the club due to his involvement as a close advisor of Putin. During the momentary applause before Premier League games in solidarity with Ukraine that was conducted at the time, Chelsea fans sang Abramovich’s name as a show of support – completely disregarding his involvement with the aggressors of Ukraine. We are yet to see if Qatar’s alleged sportswashing attempts have worked – although some experts fear it might have but for a reason far removed from actual football.

The unfortunate reality of this “beautiful game” is that football fans can be incredibly bigoted. Sexism exists as keyboard warriors do their best to undermine women’s football at every turn, mocking demands of fair pay. Racism has only seen a real decline in recent years but still rears its heads whenever a person of colour cannot perform on the pitch. Homophobia is rampant – to the point where there is exactly one footballer who belongs to the LGBTQ community and is heading to the FIFA World Cup (Josh Cavallo for Australia). This unfortunate characteristic has made fans support Qatar’s anti LGBTQ stance while disguising these archaic and dystopian beliefs as “respecting their culture” and accusing the west of “shoving woke propaganda down everyone’s throats”. Qatar happens to have a history of curtailing the rights of the LGBTQ community and women. The country has draconian laws that criminalise sexual intercourse between individuals of the same sex and forces transgender people to undergo conversion therapy. Qatari members of the LGBTQ community have reported being intimidated and harassed by the police regularly. An environment like this has made many fans from the community reluctant to attend the World Cup for fear of punishment by Qatari authorities simply for their identities. In 2010, when asked about Qatar’s inclusion of the LGBTQ community, Sepp Blatter had told the community that they “should refrain from any sexual activities.” While FIFA then issued an apology at the time, and has recently assured fans they would not be prosecuted for such a situation, the atmosphere is still too hostile to risk for most people.

This situation has also seen backlash from various footballing nations. Eight European nations had announced that they would be wearing “One Love” armbands in support of the LGBTQ community. FIFA, however, warned the teams that should they go along with the plan, they would immediately be cautioned with yellow cards when the game kicks off. This has forced the countries to step down from their decision but not without criticising FIFA’s decisions. Fans have allegedly been targeted when wearing rainbow flags or hats in the stadiums. A US reporter was allegedly denied entry by security due to him wearing a rainbow shirt. The President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino has repeatedly defended Qatar in various statements and has also insisted that the country’s leadership welcomed people with open arms regardless of their sexuality, sex or race. Yet, the experiences of the fans in the actual stadiums beg to differ.

Seeing you have banned all teams to wear the One Love armband to actively support LGBTQ+ at the World Cup. You have lost my respect. All the work my fellow allies and the LGBTQ+ community are doing to make football inclusive, you have shown that football isn’t a place for everyone.” – Australian footballer Josh Cavallo, a member of the LGBTQ community, addressing FIFA

Even if somehow you can get rid of human empathy and move past the human rights abuses, corruption and stigma surrounding the tournament, the actual match-watching experiences aren’t satisfactory either. The World Cup saw the construction of “fan villages” such as the Rawdat Al Jahhaniya which have been extremely criticised. The issue is, these so-called fan villages are made out of shipping containers and cost 300$ a night. Shipping containers in the desert with malfunctioning air conditioners for 300 USD a night – ah yes, the football fan’s utopia.

The match-watching experience for many fans also involves a lot of alcohol and FIFA knows that. After all, there is a reason that Budweiser is a main sponsor for the tournament. Despite Qatari laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol, FIFA had assured fans that alcohol would be served around the stadium. Budweiser was given designated areas in stadiums where alcohol could be sold and fans could be allowed to consume it. However, eight days before the event, Qatari officials informed Budweiser that their tents would be moved to less prominent locations and were no longer allowed inside the stadium itself but could be sold within the perimeter. Two days before the tournament, FIFA announced that all points of sale of alcoholic beverages would be removed from the stadiums in direct contradiction of the Qatari bid in 2010. This was a surprise, since in 2014 FIFA had forced Brazil to alter its previously stricter laws to allow World Cup fans to consume alcoholic beverages in the stadium freely – at the grave risk to safety and security.

I think personally, if for three hours a day you cannot drink a beer, you will survive.” – Gianni Infantino, FIFA President

This tournament has not proved to be a good proposition for the professionals that compete in it either. Traditionally, the World Cup takes place for an entire month in June, while players play for domestic leagues and cups from August to May. However, due to Qatar’s desert climate, the tournament was shifted to November-December as the climate would be too harsh on the players in June. The issue with this scenario is that the normal league seasons had been conducted as usual. However, with a FIFA World Cup sandwiched in between the normal league season the amount of games that players have to play during the same duration has increased by a lot. Throughout a normal season, teams often play more than 50 matches and it is normal for various players to be out with minor injuries for a game or two. With so many matches to play, though, it is expected that many players will suffer injuries that’ll keep them off the pitch for longer periods of time. While Qatar might be far from a fair World Cup, it is still a World Cup and most players do not often get the chance to represent their country at the biggest stage more than twice or thrice in their careers. It is thus, a huge blow to miss out on Qatar 2022 for anyone. Yet, this unusual tournament has led to a significant number of high profile players missing it such as Timo Werner, Christopher Nkunku, Lo Celso and more. The defending champions, France, have been especially unlucky with a number of their most important players such as Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba, Raphael Varane, N’Golo Kante and others missing the entire tournament.

These are unfortunately, still not the end of the things wrong with the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. Qatar doesn’t allow free speech against its government, nor does it allow practice of any religion other than Islam in public spaces. There have been reports over the past few weeks that the country has hired people from Pakistan to play the role of fake fans to make up for the lack of travelling fans to the tournament. Qatar’s initial promises of sustainable stadiums and air conditioning for players on the pitch and the fans have started to be exposed as being hollow. The opener between Qatar and Ecuador was surrounded by rumours that Qatar had allegedly bribed 8 Ecuador players to lose the match (Ecuador won that by 2-0). Many Western nations have regularly hit back against the various controversies surrounding the tournament and Qatar at large. Denmark has decided to wear black jerseys instead of their usual red to mourn the deaths of the migrant workers who died in the past decade. FIFA has addressed these complaints by telling nations to “stick to football not politics” insisting that “FIFA is not in the business of giving moral lessons to the rest of the world”; a statement that the nations have openly expressed their displeasure for. An especially ironic statement considering FIFA chose to ban Russia from the FIFA World Cup after its occupation of Ukraine, showing that geopolitics in football only seem to matter when the party in the wrong is not currently generating revenue for FIFA.

The one good outcome of this is that the backlash is working even if only to a certain extent. There are positive steps being taken too. The Netherlands pledged on Friday to press FIFA into creating a long term resource centre for migrant workers in Doha. Several coaches and federations have backed calls to create a compensation fund for migrant workers. As mentioned before, eight European teams have done their best to show solidarity with the LGBTQ community, even publicly speaking out against FIFA’s attempts to stop them from doing so and despite homophobia prevailing in a majority of their fanbases. Even if too little and too late, Qatar did make some reforms to their predatory labour laws and hopefully further steps are not far behind.

I am no longer the 10 year old who fell in love with football thanks to the Flying Dutchman in 2014. I am 19 now and know way more about this beautiful game and somehow love it even more. This version of the FIFA World Cup is strange though; it doesn’t quite fill you with the same feeling of unity through a shared love for a game where magic is real. Maybe that’s because it simply doesn’t seek unity anymore, instead choosing to discriminate, oppress and alienate. Perhaps, for me and over a billion other fans, it is simply impossible to look past the ugliness of the beautiful game anymore.

Siddharth Kumar

[email protected]

Image credits: Sky Sports, Yahoo Sports, The Hindu, FIFA

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Spo(r)tlight

Football in India

By DU Beat January 19, 2012

Football has really developed over the years in India. I had never even dared to harbour the hope of watching a great football giant playing a football game in India with their full strength squad up until a couple of years ago. We already had one big match at the Salt Lake in Calcutta last year when Argentina played Venezuela. Football fans from all around the country took this as an opportunity to catch some of their favourite stars in action, for example the mercurial Messi and the agile Aguero. Those who were too unfortunate to miss that game did not have too long to wait to watch such players live in action in India for on January 10, 2012, a mere half a year after that game, the Bavarian Giants and Champions League runners up from the 2010-2011 season, Bayern Munchen came to town.

I was one among the 35,000 spectators who turned up at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to watch this much anticipated game, and I am sure that I can safely say that all those present had a brilliantly mesmerizing experience. You could see the excitement pulsing through the veins of the eager spectators as they thronged the box offices and collected their tickets. The look of glee as they read the names of the teams playing that evening said it all. It was unbelievable; Munich was here, in our very own Delhi.

The atmosphere in the stands was incredible. Electricity and energy were pounding through nearly every spectator present. The football summit also included the finals of the FC Bayern youth cup, contested between Delhi and Mumbai, the winners of which would win a trip to watch the Champions League final in May as well as win the esteemed opportunity of training with the football giants in Germany. Although this match was not the highlight, it was a very gripping match, and kept the audience biting their nails as the twenty two players ran hard, made telling tackles and dove to intercept seemingly impossible passes in order to impress the youth scouts from Germany. In the end the match was decided 4-3 in Delhi’s favour, after some nervous moments at the penalty shootout. However, we did get a glimpse of the visitors, who strayed onto the pitch and invited some deafening roars.

After this fifty minute match, all that remained between the huge match and the lot of impatient and fully charged spectators was an opening ceremony, and might I add, the ceremony – which consisted of a few short speeches, a brilliant cello recital and a well-co-ordinated dance routine to some popular numbers – was well worth the wait.

The happiest moment for each spectator present at the stadium though, would’ve been when both the teams, India as well as Munich made their way onto the pitch for their warm-ups. We finally got to see both teams in full gear exercising, stretching and of course, doing ball drills. While most eyes were on Robben and his juggling antics, and Ribery with his passing practices, and Neuer repeatedly being bombarded with jarring shots taken by Schweinsteiger and Tymoschuk among others, India too were working on opening up their muscles just beyond in the other half of the pitch. Seeing the two teams at their workout and knowing that the match was finally within a stone’s throw just made us all the more impatient.

Then was the big moment, the kick off. Two great icons, Phillip Lahm and Baichung Bhutia, the Sikkimese Sniper, for whom this match was the swan song, met for the toss, and Bhutia was gifted a Munich Jersey signed by the Bavarians. Finally the game started. Munich got into their stride easily, and troubled India and the ball rarely left the Indian half, and the audience cheered the home team on as the Bavarians mesmerised us with their swift passes and accurate balls. India held them off for a good 14 minutes of frantic defending, after which Mario Gomez finished beautifully with composure. This invited groans of discontent from the audience; however, it was only half disconcerted as they were excited too. They had just seen one of the finest teams in the world doing what they do best. This goal invited a torrent of goals, one header and a two touch finish from the young Muller and a swift well placed shot by the steam engine, Schweinie and no matter how hard Team India tried, they could not trouble the Bavarians who simply swatted them away.

The second half however was a whole different ball game altogether. Bayern made a huge number of changes in the line up and weakened the team considerably. This slightly weaker team was definitely a little easier for India to cope with and their confidence levels soared as they made blazing runs, made some bone crunching tackles and posed some threat to the visitors. They could not finish with a goal however. The defining moment of the match had to be during the 84^th minute however when Bhaichung Bhutia, the legend of India made his way to the dugout in the Indian jersey one last time. The entire team stood up in an ovation to the great man, and play even stopped for a few minutes as each and every player on the pitch congratulated him on his great career and bade him farewell. Every person who follows football as much as I do, would have really mourned this loss to Indian football, and wondered who would ever be able to fill the gap that he left behind. After the tears were shed, the few remaining minutes were played on a similar note, and the game ended 4-0 to Bayern.

Team India put up a valiant fight against the German Champs. They struggled, they ran, they dived, in the end both teams won. Bayern Munich won the game. India earned a reason to be proud. They had a chance to play against the greats of football, and they held their own and tried their best. We, in India do not yet have access to the kind of infrastructure and opportunities that world class teams like Munich possesses, so the fact that we were able to keep our chins up after such a brilliant display is an amazing feat in itself. All in all, the match was enchantingly enthralling and brilliantly mesmerizing and the fact that we are able to watch such great games in India is a living testament to the fact that football is definitely growing in India. After this and the International game in Kolkata, I’m sure more such matches will definitely take place in India. India is gaining exposure in the scene of World Football. It is rising up the ladder of rankings. Such events will greatly help the situation of football in India.

India is no longer just a cricketing nation. The day is fast approaching when India will embrace football just as it embraces cricket. The day is near when England will play cricket at the Kotla ground and also football at the JLN. The day is coming when India’s I-league will have star players from around the world. There shall also be a day not too far away when we will finally hear the National Anthem at the FIFA World Cup and break into screams as we say the words “Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he”, with our heads held high in pride and our faces beaming with energy, excitement and exuberant enthusiasm.

I eagerly await that day.

Anirudh Chakradhar
Sri Venkateswara College

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