Less than half a month left for the Fifa World Cup. The stage is set to support your team at this mega event. No matter, how slim the chances of winning are, every qualified team will have an army of supporters cheering for it. Unfortunately for me, it will be a while before India qualifies for the world cup qualifiers, forget about the main event. So, that means I have to pick a side or be a neutral spectator.
The real question is can you really be a neutral spectator? Or as some others like to put it "I am a fan of good football, regardless of who is playing". Can you really be a neutral fan without having a tilt or affinity one way or the other.
Affinity can come from anywhere. It could come from a particular player you admire. Like when Ronaldinho was on the ball, millions of people would just forget who they supported for a minute to admire him play. Same can be said when you see Ronaldo taking that free-kick from 30 yards. It's true with any sport. Millions of people like me stopped watching F1 when Schumacher retired; or Sachin for that matter, who while batting made people look at TV showrooms across India while on their way to office.
You could like a team due to it's style of play, like impressive short passes or solid defensive capabilities, attractive array of striking options and so on. Some people would like to see the underdog beat the giants and would watch out for something widely known as a "Cupset". Like David beating Goliath (Unless he is David Moyes - As a Chelsea fan, I had to crack that one!!!). Some others would play safe and be behind the strongest team. Like they say, dude I tell you, Spain is going to win this one. Like i do not know you saw the football rankings yesterday and made up your mind!!!
Then there are people who would be England, Spain or Germany fan because they have been following their football leagues for a long time and developed the affinity. I know lot of people would not like to admit they like England(due to the weakened squad they have) but if England were to make it past the group stages, these people will start rooting up for England.
Then there are people who will only start watching after the group stages and maybe after the round-of-16 and then say things like, "Dude I said, Germany all the way". I feel like saying - Do you know what All-the-way even means? You started following from the quarters, how could you be supporting Germany all the way?
Those things aside, I feel it's difficult to be a neutral and still enjoy the game as much. Unless you are a commentator and your job warrants you to be neutral. Even if your team ends up losing, you pick up another side to back it. Or you have a soft corner towards a particular team. Whichever way you want to put it. The world is going to watch!!
Come what may, this tournament will present us plenty of unforgettable moments. Who will be the Suarez to play the hand of god? Which big team will not win a single game like France? Which underdog will be the surprise package like Ghana? A lot remains to wait and watch. Come on Brazil 2014.
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