FIFA World Cup finals remain. The soccer fever has caught everyone and it should start receding as well, now that the WC is coming to an end. It has been a month of drama, frenzy, craze and fever. Emotions abound!
In this part of the world, where we keep guessing if India will ever qualify and hoping it qualifies once in our lifetime and talks about how India should host a World Cup event. But alas!! the bid is done with until 2030.
Irrespective of all these, the soccer mania in India is at an all time high. From West Bengal to Kerala, its Messi, Kaka, Rooney all the way. Got some funny email forwards of flex boards and posters in Kerala - Messi is dressed in Dhoti playing soccer, Rooney dressed as a Malabar king, a village named as "Argentina Nagar".
People supporting their favorite teams, graffiti of Brazil and Argentinian flags, T shirts sold like hot cakes with number 10 on them. Youngsters sporting Messi and Kaka jerseys. Trying to get the pronunciation right of names such as Steinsteiger. Waking up at an unearthly hour to see their favorites go down the drain - England, Brazil, Argentina, Germany.....only to sleep during work hours. Words heard in the cafeteria and break rooms are forward, offside, headbutt, howlers....
People curious to know what a Vuvuzela is. In the beginning, I wondered if it was another name given to the country 'Venezuela' :-D Later, wondered why did the WC organizers in SA not take care of the mosquito menace in the stadiums, hearing to the non stop buzz. And then realized it was due to the VUVUZELA and not mosquitoes!!
Ahh, the Jabulani. The Sindhis would be proud. The official soccer ball for the WC is the Jabulani, surrounded with controversies. People here want to own it, I myself want one and checked the price of it. 150$ is what it is, quite reasonable!! I shall get one soon!
And the Waka Waka. People who did not know who Shakira was, now know her better. And they are spell-bound of her Waka Waka moves and gyrations. Oh yes!! Those are the ones who have not seen her "Hips Don't Lie" moves :-) Oh!! Lets not forget our Malayalam version of the same - Laka Laka. It has its own fan following :-)
We know who K'naan is and we can sing
"When I get older, I will be stronger,
They'll call me freedom, just like a wavin' flag,
And then it goes back........"
Last but not the least, the oracle Paul. The one guy who is basking in the glory and obscuring the FIFA WC itself is the OCTOPUS. Man!! he has a Wiki page dedicated to him, has a fan page on Facebook. His predictions are believed more than the team, bookies taking his words and deciding on whom to place their bet. A celebrity who is being discussed world over, who is giving tough competition to the Messis and the Kakas and the Rooneys :-)
Lets Waka Waka!!
oh yeah the WC fever..people who do not know ABC of football also update status if a team wins! ask them about the person scoring the goal..ask them whether he was a midfielder or defendant, they wouldn't know!
ReplyDeleteI do not like Shakira song as much as i like K'naan song..wavin' flag gives u the game feeling, while waka waka is an eye candy for most of the male species :)
I didn't miss wimbledon either..for me, football and tennis are at par..especially with Rafa winning, who would have missed the match!
Paul Octopus - he has emerged as a God..hope germans don't kill him today!
1st :)
ReplyDeleteNot a football person but liked reading your post since it gave information :)
ReplyDelete@ Nu, actually, you are second this time :P
ReplyDeleteEnjoy while it lasts is the only funda. Waka Waka
ReplyDeletegokka mokka
ReplyDeleteYeah, thank god, the WC is coming to an end. Am looking forward to some undisturbed, peaceful sleep! :D
ReplyDeleteBut this Paul has impressed me the most!! Damn cool it is!! I wonder how an octopus can predict!!
Neha,
ReplyDeleteYeah, they dont want to be left out :-)
I liked the K'naan one better due to the beats, it has the essence of celebration.
Rafa winning was awesome, not to forget the marathon match :-D
Oh yeah!! He was being cursed for predicting against Germany and many outlets in Germany are waiting to put him in soup - literally!!
Nu,
ReplyDeleteGlad. :-) Hope you enjoyed reading it
Holy Lama,
ReplyDeleteFeeling sad that its gonna end :-( Until then Waka Waka :-)
soin,
ReplyDelete:-) Hahahaha
Shilpa.
ReplyDelete:-( Sob..sob..Feeling bad that its gonna come to end.
Mr.Paul is THE man now :-D
I am no fan of football, but I see a lot of excitement around me.I also show a bit of excitement as I don't want to be the odd man out.I just have very convincing expressions when they all discuss WC.
ReplyDeleteEven this fellow-octopus.
you're tagged Inni
ReplyDeletehttp://myexpositions.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/from-buzz-to-metag/
Chowla sir,
ReplyDelete:-) Its nice that you do tend to show excitement. I know how tough it would be for you.
The octopus is a superstar!!
Nu,
ReplyDeleteThank you. Shall take it up :-)
I am planning to ask Paul if I would get to marry the man on whom i have a secret crush since a yr :P
ReplyDeleteI like this fifa spirit in India and more importantly the song waka waka and laka laka ;)
world cup fever is all over the place.. most of the FB updates are also abt the sme. and me the great, haven watched one match even!! no comments ;)
ReplyDeletebut yeah, i love waka waka :)
waka waka to u too :)
matter ena na... we are 132 ranked.. and 32 teams can play in the wc...:) as for worldcup.. i think80 percent were more aware abt the octapus and rest 20 abt shakira... wc..etho ena mathiri nyayamana :)
ReplyDeletefootball and
ReplyDeleteIndian TV stations are also full of octopus stories predictions and now they found parrot also.
Got some very useful info on jubalani..
ReplyDeleteIs 150 dollars reasonable for a football which costs just 150 here..:P
Vuvuzela is an awesome instrument with a lot of controversies attached.
Ask the players..
Hailing the octopus..:)
Cheers
Nuts
p.s. My team is out of the cup..:(
G3,
ReplyDeleteLol!! What are you waiting for? Paul's always correct, so go ahead
Oh yeah!! the spirit is really contagious. And its awesome!
Laka Laka now!
Chandana,
ReplyDeleteI bet! Oh really? You have not watched even a single match!!!
Ok, me too..no comments!
Waka Waka!! :-)
Hary,
ReplyDeleteTrue, and we will keep slipping. Aama aama micha midhi ungala maathiri are the ones who are really concentrating on the WC and the games :-P
sm,
ReplyDeleteOh yes!! Mr. Paul is the celebrity now. Everyone else are forgotten. I did watch CNN-IBN yesterday where they were showing Live! of the parakeet predicting winners. It was cheap!
Nipun,
ReplyDeleteThe price of the jabulani, I said it was reasonable.
Hope you got my wit and sarcasm there :-P
Vuvuzela is a pest to the players and the coach :-)
Octopus rules!! :-)
PS : Sad, mine too. but thats ok. Enjoy the game, may the best team win!!
When Netherlands beat Brazil, I almost believed that the match was fixed, bcoz it seemed like nothing was done to stop their goal. And when Germany beat Argentina 4-0, I wanted to stick the you-know-which-finger up and scream "Waka, waka to you too!" Such is the spirit of the game, that it affects people even if miles away from the sport, with little or no clue how to kick the ball around.
ReplyDeleteArgentina Nagar?! Ha ha!
ReplyDeleteReading your blog after a while, and it's refreshing!
RGB,
ReplyDelete:-) I know!! I know!! The spirit is too contagious.
Ashwin,
ReplyDeleteWelcome back. Yeah you read that right :-D
Glad you got refreshed reading my write ups.
In my home my son sits glued to the TV and at times I can hear out bursts when goals are hit. My God... never knew people were this much crazy about this sport. You have also written the post quite well.
ReplyDeleteI never saw any Argentina Nagar, or the players in mundu around here! Hmph! People around my place ought to get more creative!
ReplyDeleteAll I saw was some made up funeral decorations on fluxes of Argentina after they LOST.
And, I'd call this post 'A cheerful summary of the WC' :)
One shouldn't stay conceited just because he/she hates sports, right?
We should always give ears and research a bit about what's going on in the world, and take our part in the celebration, that's what will make life simple..
chitra,
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha, your son has minimal craze I would say!!!
Thank you
et,
ReplyDeleteOh Oh!! I have a huge collection of flex posters. I should share it with you then.
Thank you, glad you like the post. :-)
Yeah!! I agree. Have fun, celebrate and indulge!! Make yourself happy :-)
The only thing I\m following is the Octopus Astrologer! Nice post anyway.
ReplyDeleteWell had not known about this octopus guy till i read this article.. well in thesmall little world i have been did not know.
ReplyDeleteI liked the waka wak song ... I supported argentina but sadly they lost ..
had bought a vuvuzela for myself but sadly did not get the chance to blow it beacuase of some things that came up..
World cup fever is finishing off... I hope i am able ot watch the finals tomorrow .. fingers crossed ...
150$ for a ball. no way.. you want one tell me m sure i can get a cheaper one here ... its not that expensive but i wud not spend that much money for a ball..
Lets waka wak for sure
:)
ReplyDeleteCant stop humming Waka waka.. it IS catchy :)
While you are at it, get me a Jabulani as well!
Neena,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to B Log. The Octopus is the celebrity now!!
Keep visiting.
Bik,
ReplyDeleteOh god!! Dont tell me. You did NOT know about the octopus until now? The entire world knows him more than they know the team!!
Blow away the vuvuzela at the finals!
Waka Waka is peppy! Oh yeah!! Thats what I figured out 150$ for the Jabulani!!
Merlin,
ReplyDelete:-) Waka Waka catches you for sure!
Oh yes!! for sure. 2 Jabulanis; one for me and one for you :-)
All these strange sounding words are going over my head. Vuvuzela, Jabulani .. and my office is playing online football game called 'Golaco'! ;-p
ReplyDelete- Paul is the most silliest piece of news I've been hearing last 10 days. Next times Europeans scorn Indians for resorting to horoscopes/ astrologers, I'm gonna turn around & give them all a mouthful :-D
lostworld,
ReplyDeleteI understand :-) It must be greek and latin for you.
Hahaha. The more sillier than Paul are Mani and a couple others in Bangalore. I will join you too, let me know when you are going to give them a mouthful.
WC fever is also in the blog sphere....
ReplyDeleteakd,
ReplyDeleteWC fever is everywhere :-)
It was good while it lasted. But there were many upsets this season, and the finals was not very gently I must say (the refree had only time to dip his hand in the pocket for cards)
ReplyDeleteThat mosquito/bees buzzing sound is a real put off. I wonder if its real or "created for effects"
Haddock,
ReplyDeleteYes :-)Yup!! I thought the finals was played by hooligans disguised as 6 ft mirinda bottles :-P
The referee had a very tough time. The buzz it seems was real and I have heard the noise that comes out of Vuvuzela..It is not pleasant :-)