You’d be astonished to learn how much football means to a city in Maharashtra, where they have their very own teams that play in the colors of Brazil and Argentina. If you thought that World Cup passion was only at its height in the usual hubs and sports pubs in big cities, you’d be wrong.
Image of a historical site in Kolhapur, from Wikipedia.
The Suryavanshis got into an argument a few weeks ago while doing their Diwali shopping in a bustling Kolhapur market. The color of the “akashkandil,” a festive lantern, that Madhavi and Satish were purchasing to illuminate their home, caused them to quarrel.
Football stories in Kolhapur
The lady was determined that it had to be blue-yellow, even though the husband preferred the one that was “blue & white.” The fight is the oldest in this football-obsessed city. The two competing local football teams in Kolhapur, Brazil vs. Argentina, wear the same colors as the superpowers of the game.
In “blue-yellow,” Patakadil Talim Mandal (PTM), and “blue and white,” Khandoba Talim, respectively, are seen. Satish, a once-fervent midfielder for Khandoba, refers to Madhavi as a “PTM mulgi.” According to the wife, “our wedding was nearly stopped by a football rivalry.”
In a week, this rivalry between the most passionate tournament organizer in Kolhapur football and his wife, the principal of the CBSE, will escalate into what is at the heart of their domestic disputes: didactic defenses of which country is superior, Argentina or Brazil.
Following Argentina’s victory over Brazil in the Copa America final in June, Khandoba Talim unfurled their blue-and-white banners and circled PTM on bicycles while continuously honking to celebrate their team’s victory from the other side of the world.
Everybody enjoys football, no matter which World Cup it is. However, Kolhapur not only practices it for the entire month and a half of the quadrennial competition but also fervently believes in its kinship with the South American teams that play in their colors in the interval.
It is for the love of football but fans are also pouring into Qatar from India showing love for Argentina in particular.
Guess what? More than 5,000 Argentina fans, from various nationalities, living in Qatar will welcome visiting the team to cheer La Albiceleste to glory.
Indian drums drowned out Argentina’s ardent fans as hundreds waited for hours outside Lionel Messi’s World Cup team’s base in Qatar.
The drummers and Indian beat dancers demonstrated yet again how Qatar 2022 will be a unique experience for players and visiting fans. When Harry Kane’s team arrived on Tuesday, subcontinent supporters outnumbered England fans.
When Argentina takes the field against Saudi Arabia in their first World Cup match on November 22, a group of ardent Argentina international supporters will join the travelling Argentinian fans to cheer the country on.
This group of supporters have existed since 1986, the year Argentina won its last World Cup with Diego Maradona. That is well before Lionel Messi, the current super star in the Argentina team, was born.
However, a new group of supporters known as the Argentina Fans Qatar or AFQ was founded in June of this year and this month until December, some fans will be inside the stadium, while others will cheer from the fan zones.
AFQ is the story of die-hard Argentina fans of various nationalities, primarily Indians, Nepalese, Sri Lankans, and Bangladeshis, but also Africans and Qataris.
They all claim their love for Argentina and Messi knows no bounds and since Messi mentioned that this is his last World Cup, the fans are going crazy and will do all they can to watch him for one last time, hoping that Argentina and Messi wins the cup this time.
Argentina is not the only country that has such diehard followers but in this World Cup, some countries may not get the ultimate support from fans.
Love for Football or for England?
In this case, England is likely to pay a price with fans switching allegiance depending on how the England team performs.
According to a study, only one in every four football fans (24%) will stick by the England squad throughout the World Cup.
According to a poll of 2,000 sports fans, one-third would switch allegiances depending on how well the teams perform in the tournament.
More than half would base their support on how “fanciful” the squad is, while 49% would root for a team because they liked the uniform.
In a sweepstakes, 17% said they would support the team drawn at random – rather than their home nation.
And if Wales outlasts the England team, nearly half of England fans will support them.
Almost half (44%) believe England will win the tournament this year, while only 26% believe Wales will take home the trophy.
Bangladeshi chemist Abu Kowsir says South Korea gave his family prosperity — so the least he can do is cheer on his benefactors when they begin their World Cup campaign this week.
He and his wife Sabina have amused and confused their neighbours by stitching together South Korean flags into a 3.5-kilometre (2.2-mile) long banner that weaves a path from their home, along nearby streets and over a river into a neighbouring village.
The extravagant tribute cost them $5,000 and testifies to Kowsir’s love of a country where he spent much of his adult life as a migrant worker.
“We love South Korea and this is how we chose to support the team,” Sabina, 34, told AFP. “We will keep supporting them and will pray for their victory.”
Sabina herself has never been to the country where her husband toiled in factories for 15 years, but was intoxicated by the “great tales” he brought home from his time in the industrial giant.
“Whenever my husband came home from South Korea, he would tell me about the culture, discipline and beauty of the country,” she said.
“I truly loved those stories. I consider South Korea my dream place to visit.”
In the South Korean factory where he worked, Kowsir was responsible for scraping components out of used handsets and other consumer goods, melting down gold and preparing it for resale.
The long stretch abroad gave Kowsir, 45, the resources to start his own jewellery business at home and he credits his labour there for helping propel his family into the country’s middle classes.
He first set his allegiance after watching the 2002 World Cup, jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan, where he was awed by the feats of star midfielder Yoon Jong-hwan.
“Jong-hwan was my favourite player, he was brilliant,” Kowsir told AFP at his home.
He said it took tailors two weeks to sew the banner, which was partially bankrolled by Kowsir’s decision to sell a mango orchard he inherited from his father.
Its unfurling has caused a local stir on social media, with thousands of people visiting to catch a glimpse of it in person — even if they do not quite understand the reasoning behind the costly endeavour.
World Cup: ‘They are crazy’
“They are crazy, spending so much money just to show their love for their team,” said Mohammad Akash, a neighbour of Kowsir and Sabina.
“People are coming to our village from all over just to see.”
Bangladesh is better known for its love of cricket, with its football team ranked 192nd globally and never qualifying for the premier international tournament.
But every four years, the World Cup arouses feverish passions in the South Asian nation, where football powerhouses Brazil and Argentina have a huge following.
Die-hard supporters spend fortunes painting their homes in the national colours of their preferred Latin American team.
The ostentatious rivalry has occasionally turned violent. During the last Cup in 2018, rival followers of Lionel Messi and Neymar clashed with machetes in the central town of Bandar, leaving two people critically wounded.
South Korea, ranked 28th, faces an uphill battle against Uruguay when its campaign begins on Thursday, and the daunting prospect of a showdown with Portugal later in the group stage.
Kowsir says he has been gently ribbed by neighbours about his side’s dim prospects while drinking at a local tea stall, but he remains philosophical.
“There’s victory and defeat in every game,” he said. “As a Korean supporter, I hope they will play well. Even if they cannot reach the final, I will still support them.”
The football fans are fixated on who is the greatest of all time in the soccer arena with the duel between Cristiano Ronald and Lionel Messi entering its last global phase, perhaps.
Nonetheless, Ronaldo and Messi are the only two popular and talented players in our era who have never won the World Cup.
While it is true that Portugal is not a large team with many talented players that can easily claim the title of World Cup winner, the same cannot be said for Argentina, a country that has produced two World Cup victories so far.
Argentina has reached the World Cup final on four occasions. It was defeated by the Uruguay national team way back in 1930, which is the inaugural World Cup competition.
However, Argentina produced excellent football in the competition winning by big scores and establishing Guillermo Stábile, an Argentine professional football player and manager who played as a centre forward during his career, as the top scorer of the 1930 World Cup, scoring 8 goals including a hattrick.
Alas, it lost the final against the gritty Uruguayans with the match ending in a 4-2 win for Uruguay.
Argentina was also defeated in two other finals, in 1990 and 2014, against Germany and the latter went on to win those two finals by 1-0. In 1990, it was the last appearance for maestro Diego Maradona.
But Messi’s country produced two great final victories against the Netherlands in 1974, winning 3-1 in a display of magical soccer between the two opponents (Netherlands had the father of modern football Johan Cryuiff in its squad) and beating Germany in a thrilling 3-2 final giving Maradona his only World Cup final win.
While Messi lost in the first ever final in which he participated in 2014, Ronaldo’s Portugal never reached the final though the troubled Manchester United superstar has played in 4 World Cups since 2006.
Who Will Smile at the 2022 World Cup?
We wrote that Ronaldo is a player who sets precedence and sets the tone for styles and goal scoring prowesses. This is so true for the great player and he is also the first to win a ‘regional’ trophy with his country when Portugal won its first ever Euro Championship in 2016, beating France 1-0 in the final after extra time.
It was Ronaldo’s most important national trophy, leaving the World Cup as the only major international trophy he has yet to win.
The star is going through the most turbulent and disturbing period in his football career and his coach at Manchester United is not helping the player with his dictatorial style and his bullying of one of the greatest soccer stars of all time.
This is not going to help Ronaldo in Portugal’s search for a place in the final at Qatar though we know that the latter cna rise to the occasion if he can put all his woes behind him and focus on the football on the field.
A great performance by Ronald at the World Cup will make Eric Ten Hag look like a fool. But Ronaldo is going through pain and this may, unfortunately for his fans and for football, Ten Hag is contributing to a potentially bad World Cup for the latter.
Ten Hag has- sadly – never played in any World Cup and is already seen as a troubled coach at Man Utd. The 6-3 defeat against Manchester City and the 4-0 drubbing against Brentford are two big dark spots in his managerial career at Old Trafford. Another misstep with a drubbing by a small club or a big one for that matter may mean Ten Hag could see the gate wide open for him to be excluded from the club.
Why sadly? He does not know how precarious it is to be a player who is going to play in a World Cup. If he knew, he would have been more careful in his choices with Ronaldo.
Nevertheless, Lionel Messi is not facing such worries and the Argentinian ace is in the running as one of the top rated players who may perform well in Qatar.
Messi has announced that this may be his last call for Argentina in the World Cup and that he may retire as an international soccer player, meaning he might not play for his country again after Qatar 2022.
Ronaldo has responded to Messi’s plans for retirement from international football by saying he hopes Messi would reconsider and would continue to play as long as he can because he believes the latter is a great player with great capacities.
This is how Ronaldo is. He encourages his opponents to carry on and to perform in order to bring brightness to the most beautiful game on the planet. Unlike some people.
Messi’s World Cup?
Among all the stars in Qatar, Messi will undoubtedly be looked upon as one of the greatest and he will become the greatest versus Ronaldo if Argentina reaches the final and wins.
Messi too started his World Cup appearances in 2006. Unfortunately, like Ronaldo, he has been putting more emphasis on clus football – which brings them more cash – than national football.
Unlike people like Pele for example, who played for their country with the same grit and enthusiasm when they played for their clubs – Pele won many club titles and World Cup finals at the same time – it does not appear the same for the modern ‘Peles’.
However, Messi has a chance now and if he forgets club soccer for a while, perhaps he may spark a riot at the World Cup and bring the trophy home to Buenos Aires and consecrate himself as the GOAT of our generation.
Messi has scored six goals in 19 matches at the Fifa World Cup spanning four editions. Argentina is a bigger soccer country than Portugal, though Portugal has also produced aces like Ronaldo and the once thrilling Eusebio whose team beat Pele’s in the 1966 World Cup.
Ronaldo has scored seven goals in 17 matches at the FIFA World Cup, scoring in every edition he has played in – 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018.
While Ronaldo has advised Messi to continue playing in the World Cup or at International level for a few more years, this year may be his last World Cup.
But depending on his spirit and where he is playing after he leaves Manchester United – unless Ten Hag is kicked out of Old Trafford earlier than January 2023 – Ronaldo may still attempt to give Portugal another shot at the World Cup in 2026! Imagine that.
Nevertheless, it is a pity that none of them have lifted the World Cup trophy, just like the legendary Cryuff who re-invented football with his total soccer styles, reached the final in 1974 and lost to Germany by 2-1.
Cryuff missed the World Cup in 1978 which saw the Netherlands reach the final only to be defeated by host Argentina by 3-1. He did not participate in the World Cup for obscure reasons but in 2008 he revealed why he did not play for the country in 1978.
He told the media that there was a kidnapping attempt on him and his family and that shocked him and while he escaped the attempt, it changed his perspective on life.
Hence, Messi is the best placed in the Qatar 2022 versus Ronaldo who is going through a difficult time, to go and win the cup for once!
The FIFA World Cup has been around for almost a century. The cup has brought the spotlight on numerous players such as Pele, Ronaldo, Neymar and many more. It is a rarity as it only occurs every four years.
There are many speculations on this year’s World Cup, but due to the scandal about Qatar’s human rights issues and the splitting of the Champions/Premier League is making it look rushed.
Numerous important players were unable to join this year’s World Cup due to injuries from the Premier League. Furthermore, it is still unclear if Son Heung-Min is able to play in it after his eye socket injury.
Fans have already begun making memes about the 2022 World Cup and claimed that Spain will pass the ball until they “die.” Portugal will pass the ball to Ronaldo constantly for him to strike, Brazil will constantly dribble the ball to confuse other players and jokingly claim that for Argentina, if another team hurts him, they will die.
Now, the list of the 5 best World Cups was made by shortlist.com and it has quite a number of interesting facts to it.
Number 5, South Korea/Japan
Image of the 2002 World Cup logo, from Wikipedia.
The 2002 World Cup, 20 years ago, is listed as the fifth best in this list. Brazilian Ronaldo led Brazil to be the best team of the cup. 2002 was the year that Brazil beat Germany in a 2-0 final match.
In the list, they mentioned the most shocking things that happened in the year. Namely, the questionable refereeing that was done in the South Korea vs Italy match where South Korea saw an advantage over the latter. The United States also managed to beat Portugal and send them home. This is only for them to be sent home by Germany.
Number 4, England
The Queen presenting the World Cup to England captain, Bobby Moore. Image from Wikipedia.
The 1966 World Cup, which was hosted by England and was brought up by numerous Qatar defenders when it came to the LGBT rights issue the Middle East country had. Again, Italy lost to Korea, but this time it was North Korea. It appears that the Italians have a weakness for Koreans.
England had a third goal in the 1966 finals and it is considered to be one of the most memorable moments in FIFA’s history as it is the most contested goal in any World Cup Final. Furthermore, the Jules Rimet trophy was stolen from the exhibition and it caused panic right before the cup started but it was later found wrapped in paper under some bushes in London.
Number 3, Mexico
Image of Maradona holding the World Cup trophy. From Wikipedia.
The 1986 World Cup was listed as the third best. Argentina was listed as the best team for the year and the centre of attention was Maradona. Argentina, under Maradona’s amazing skills, managed to beat West Germany in a shocking 3-2 final. It was dubbed the victory of the ‘poor countries’ by some.
Morocco was considered to be one of the biggest shocks of the 1986 Cup as they managed to beat England, Portugal and Poland. However, in the end they were beaten by West Germany. Furthermore, Maradona’s goal was regarded as “the goal of the century.”
Number 2, Italy
Image of an ongoing match in the 1990 Italy World Cup. From Wikipedia.
The 1990 tournament was held by Italy. West Germany won the match and Argentina was a close runner up. It appears that Cameroon also made the list of one of the notable countries of that year’s World Cup.
Cameroon beat Argentina in a 1-0 match and it was said to be a tough game but Cameroon deserved the win. Roger Milla was the ultimate star for Cameroon. Their tackle against Argentina was said to be one of the greatest of all time. Costa Rica then humiliated Scotland and Ireland had an amazing quarter final.
Number 1, Mexico (again)
Image of Pele in the 1970 Mexico World Cup. From Wikipedia.
Not to be confused with the 1986 Cup as this one is the 1970 Finals. Apparently, Mexico is good at hosting the World Cup as they appeared on the list twice. Brazil won the cup that year and it’s mostly thanks to Pele, Carlos Alberto, Gerson, Tostao, Rivelino and Jairzinho. They are called the ‘Giants of Brazil’ until today.
The biggest shock was that England was leading their match against West Germany with a 2-0 scoreboard. However, West Germany fought back and whacked them with a 3-2 scoreline at the end of the game.
Brazil destroyed Italy that year with a remarkable 4-1 result. This specific event was ranked as the best due to the fact that the highest score per game ratio was seen in 1970. Apparently it has not been beaten ever since.
What will happen in the next World Cup?
Will the 2022 World Cup measure up with these five best cups? We will have to wait and see when the games commence next week.
This famous song “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” became something of an anthem when it was performed by Madonna in the 1996 musical film Evita.
Now 26 years later, it sounds so shockingly appropriate.
Whatever adjectives you use, you’d be absolutely lost for screaming words as underdogs Saudi Arabia scored one of the biggest World Cup upsets ever by beating Lionel Messi’s Argentina 2-1.
Poor Messi. His quest to win the one major title to elude him got off to a shocking start and brought back memories of Cameroon’s 1-0 win over an Argentina team, led by Diego Maradona, in the opening game of the 1990 World Cup.
BIG-HEARTED SAUDIS
When Argentina scored with a 10th-minute Messi penalty, it simply looked a foregone conclusion…a possible rout in store, like Iran getting shell-shocked 6-2 by England.
But the big-hearted Saudis fought back and goals by Saleh Alshehri and Salem Aldawsari in a five-minute span in the second half gave this unimaginable win.
Believe me, this Argentina loss rivals other World Cup upsets like Senegal’s 1-0 win over titleholder France in the 2002 tournament opener and the United States beating England by the same score in 1950.
It’s hard to ever think that Argentina’s 36-match unbeaten run ended at the Lusail Stadium in Messi’s fifth — and likely last— World Cup.
SPORTING MESSI
But Messi, the Paris Saint-Germain star striker, was sporting at the final whistle. Heshook hands with a Saudi coaching staff member and stood with his hands on his hips near the centre circle, an all-too-familiar scene for one of the best players ever, who is yet to win the biggest prize in soccer.
For the record, Argentina‘s results at the FIFA World Cup ranks as one of the most successful national football teams in the world, having won two World Cups in 1978 and 1986. Argentina has been runners up three times: in 1930, 1990 and 2014. In 19 World Cup tournaments, Argentina had 47 victories in 82 matches. The team was present in all but four of the World Cups, being behind only Brazil and Germany in number of appearances (with the 2022 edition included, to be played).
Now sorry tears may well in your eyes for Messi and Argentina. You ask: How will they now pull back and make it out of this group?
* Suresh Nair is an award-winning sports journalist who is also a qualified international coach and international referee instructor
