The nuisance of being an Indian football fan

Indian Football fan ! Where do i go” src=”https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/wp-content/uploads/prithriv.jpg” alt=”An Indian Football fan ! Where do i go” width=”340″ height=”300″ />

I bleed red. I mean, who doesn’t? But I bleed a different kind of red. The one which has the names of Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Eric Cantona all etched upon it. Whilst that isn’t possible, I’m sure you know what I mean.

Every year from August until the end of May the next year, football fans here in India hurl abuses at friends, foes and, sometimes, relatives thanks to the various leagues around the world. It gets so competitive, we feel we represent the club we support and have the honourable duty of insulting other teams.

For example, this year some blue coloured team won the Premier League thanks to referees also wearing blue jerseys underneath their greenish-yuck jerseys. The people of the awesome club who came a close first, explained this to them but they cried and cried but that’s another story, isn’t it?

However, every four years this tournament comes along and destroys the soul of each and every Indian loving this beautiful game. Its called the World Cup.

Yeah, we all wear foreign jerseys and paint our faces blue, red and white instead of saffron, white and green, and some even begin singing national anthems as a homage to their favourite team. But when you see the insides of these fans (thanks to Apple’s revolutionary Soul-Searcher), you’ll see a part of them dying. We Indians are craving for Team India to represent the tri colour on the World stage. Not Sachin and Sehwag! Bhutia and Chhetri! Seriously!

That day will come in 2022, or thats what the Football Association of India promises. But by that time it could be that we Indians will be watching T-10 cricket and saas-bahu serials instead.

Baichung Bhutia is closing in on retirement and that man deserves to be at the World Cup. He has played with big names, albeit in charity matches, and proven himself. He has been an ambassador for our country regarding football and, occasionally, dancing.

So every four years we face the problem of who to support. This year it could be Spain, because they have just won the Euro Cup, Brazil, because of their huge reputation, Portugal, because of Cristiano Ronaldo, Argentina, because of Lionel Messi, England, because of Wayne Rooney or South Africa because they get a million dollars for every goal they score!

Its quite obvious that this year the majority of people are going with Spain, but back in 2006 I remember Spain were considered below cow dung and next to the US. So I guess this proves that we Indians really don’t support these teams. We only support them to connect with the rest of the World.

For example, I support England this year because they have Wayne Rooney and Simon Pegg in the same country, but when they play against Dhoni and co. at Lords or the Chinnaswamy, I’ll do my best to sneeze when the ball comes their way. Broad’s and Pietersen’s way not Rooney’s and Pegg’s! Sheesh!

So while everyone tries to support the countries the way they support their clubs, it just doesn’t come from the heart. Because we all want a team with various nationalities or, for that matter, just one country. In-dee-ah.