The
football season has ended in England and the fans of Manchester City are rejoicing. Doing the things that
football fans usually do. Comparing this team with teams of an earlier
generation or making fun of Manchester United’s troubles. It makes for a very
busy time. This can continue till the start of the next season on August 11.
But this year however is different. Later, in the month of May on the 30th to
be precise the world cup cricket tournament will commence in England when the
hosts take on South Africa. Does this excite the residents of Goa, does it make
them as crazy as a good game of football especially one featuring Portugal?
Well the answer is not as easy as one would guess. There are
fans of sport like Zhys for whom the excitement of watching a game surpasses everything.
A passionate of the English Premier League, he loves the game, loves the skills
on display but accepts the fact that like any league it will end at a
particular time of the year. Cricket he says offers excitement over several
hours. He intends to watch all the matches since as he puts it, he is a
full-blown sports fan.
If he is at one end of the spectrum then Melroy Moura is firmly
on the other end. He is a complete football fan and has no time for any other
sport. He was candid when he said “Cricket is not to my taste and I will do
something else in that time. I will watch the Champions League Finals to be
held in Baku and I will be supporting Liverpool. Following which I will watch
the Europa League finals and hope Chelsea wins. Sorry, no cricket for me.”
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Some will wonder why, because when it comes to cricket it does
draw more than apasing interest form soccer fans usually, when India is playing
a world tournament, unlike, sadly, hckey when no one turns up to watch the
finas of tournaments even when India is playing
Kanak Naik who is also a firm football fan will however watch
the cricket matches featuring India. In the meantime, he will support Totenham
Hotspur as they battle Liverpool in the final of the Champions League and
Arsenal in the finals of the Europa Cup. As he put it “Let them win something”.
For film maker Aniket Naik, the cricket world cup does not hold
any great interest though he intends to make an effort to watch the India
versus Pakistan encounter during the tournament.
Watching sporting tournaments is not the preserve of men. Many
women and young girls watch sports with great passion. Michelle DeMello loves
football with a passion but like any sports fan will watch the cricket
tournament with much interest. And she hopes India wins it. For every Michelle,
there is a Talula da Costa who will be forced to watch it because of her mother
and uncle who will watch it with a passion. As she says “I like football yes
but I am not very intense about it. I don’t like nor do I understand cricket
but my mother just loves it. She will hog the television and I will be forced
to watch it. The only thing I know about cricket is the fours and the sixes.
The rest of it leaves me quite cold”.
A
mixed bag surely but one could safely presume that once the world cup starts,
the general level of excitement will increase and it will be visible publicly.
