Ringside view

by KABITA PARAJULI, GERMANY

FROM ISSUE # 127 (July 2006) | IN THIS ISSUE
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KABITA PARAJULI

FIFA World Cup, Germany 2006! For two years, I'd been planning to watch the World Cup and now I couldn't believe I was actually there. Downtown Munich is bright yellow with Brazilian and Australian supporters. One Seleção fan turns to an Aussie fan and says, "You'll lose, 3-nil!" The Aussie fan shook his head and says, "I know."

Another day, another city, another colour: this time, it's an invasion of reds. Stuttgart is the scene of the Spain-Tunisia game. Nearly everyone is sporting a Spain jersey. I wonder "Where are the Tunisians?" Suddenly, a roar emerges from the left. A mass of Tunisians – beating on tables and faces painted – emerge from the underpass. The Spanish cheering becomes louder and the two crowds combine. The game is heart-stopping. Tunisia loses, and even though I was cheering for Spain it's sad, considering their first-half performance. The train station is filled with dancing Spaniards and sulking Tunisians. Ah well, that's football.

KABITA PARAJULI

The best game I went to featured Côte d'Ivoire versus Serbia-Montenegro. That I was less than 40m away from players made the game more exciting. Serbia-Montenegro has a curious background: the country no longer exists. About six days before the games started, Montenegro split. According to one antagonistic Serbian the split "makes no difference to the team. The Montenegrins – they don't play football." According to him, Montenegrins only know how to engage in illicit, shady activities. After prodding four times "But aren't there any Montenegrins on your team?" he relented, "Okay, fine. The goalie. But he says he's Serbian–so, that doesn't count."

Another game: Ghana vs USA. I'm rooting for Ghana. World Cup 2006 had five African nations – Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Angola, and Tunisia. Except for Ghana and Tunisia, all have suffered an excess of corruption, bloodshed and tragedy in the past few years. But when an African team plays, the continent comes together. Before the USA–Ghana match, a Ghanaian man told me, "We play for Africa." To an outsider, this sense of pan-Africanism may seem superficial considering the number of civil wars. But how many South Asian teams, were they to enter the World Cup, would say, "We play for South Asia"? One can only hope.