Underdogs no more..

The FIFA World cup is coming to a close tonight. Its been one hell of a month with 32 countries fighting for glory. India is not really the football fanatic country (with cricket being the poison for sports enthusiasts....i think that has something to do with the Brits ruling us for 150 years...). But then we have states within India who have a passion for football. Kerala and Kolkata (Calcutta if you're not looking for political correctness), are examples of such states. Both are communist states with a lotta strikes happening either way. Added to that, the fact that football is revered and Pele & Maradona are gods here, It's a no brainer to conclude that its a virtual holiday season in these parts. Mumbai views the World Cup phenomenon as a social meet, with friends hanging out at pubs for drinks and cheering the teams they have very little idea about. Well, thats a generic view though we do have people following the sport with equal passion. The favorites for this year's cup were Brazil, Argentina & Germany for most fans and Portugal, France and Italy for the lesser few. This World cup has history in the making as none of the major teams came close (with Germany coming close to it by clinching the third place title) Now we have Spain and Netherlands fighting it out for the ultimate glory. Both were the underdogs throughout the competition, with Spain never reaching the finals and Netherlands having a chance to win the title after over 30 years. It is pretty cool knowing that eitherway its pure entertainment and fun since there wont be much heartbreak over which favorite team would win (with all the favorites out of the tournament anyway). I know I will be happy with either win because I will be cheering now for game and not the players (would be awesome if the Dutch takes the cup though :P ) Will write more after witnessing history being written. It has begun....