I am down with a FIFA fever!

A season when sports channels in our television suddenly get added to the list of favourites. You close your eyes, you see your team playing and when you open them all you want is to watch them playing live.
Two teams, eleven players each, on a 120 by 60 field...all running about after a black and white ball- Yo guys, the football fever is on! Take a ride in the town- you will see posters of various teams, open your Facebook page- it is all about football there, open your Whatsapp account-everybody has their status and profile pictures showing the teams that they are in favour of.

And I end up saying 'OMG, what is going on?' Because speaking frankly this is one game that I rarely understand. For me it is just one ball and twenty people running madly after it- dodging it with head,chest and leg mostly. When the person who looks odd one out in the field-referee- blows his whistle or flashes a yellow or red card, I wonder 'What really happened there?'

When I was in school, we used to have matches being played against schools in the same district or from the nearby ones. Watching them was mandatory especially if my school was playing(for cheering issues of course). All my friends used to drop their bags in the class and they go empty handed to enjoy the match to its fullest. But I used to carry few books along and settle myself down on a levelled grassy lawn. I either used to complete my homework or go through an engrossing piece of fiction I bookmarked a while ago.

My football loving friends used to throw me a what-the-hell-is-going-on look and I just flash a beautiful smile at them. Occasionally I hear loud applause or disappointed voices from the crowd. Though I donot know the reason for it, I join them, to show that I too care about the game.

When people ask me which team do I support in this world cup,  I ask back quite meekly "Can you name some?"
Having understood my love for the game, no one asks twice. What I see next is their 'last seen' tag if in Whatsapp or 'active a minute ago' in Facebook. I sigh to myself and return to what interests me the most- a paper and pen.

I still remember, one day my brother Rohit (a die hard fan of football) had asked me "Who is your favourite player?" Having no name to say I just bounced the question back saying "Who is yours?"
He said 'Neymar' and added a smiley.
'Gosh now who is that?' I thought to myself. I asked him and came to know that it is a Brazilian player, he sent me a photo too.
Knowing nothing about Neymar's football skills I ended up commenting, "Wow..he looks handsome."

Just then a new player got added to my brain which knew only - Maradona, Ronaldo, Messi and Pele.
Pele- I knew him from my GK book.
Maradona- Uhm...he came to Kerala once.
Ronaldo- My classmates used to talk often about this guy.
And ... Messi- He was on the cover page of my Mathematics notebook.

Last night when people all around the globe was waiting eagerly for the first match of world cup to begin, I was tucked to sleep on a cozy bed, dreaming about things that I barely remember now. When I woke up and checked the Internet, I saw that Brazil won against Croatia. 'Great' I thought to myself and got back to my daily pandemonium.

As people continue waiting for the next match to begin, here I am writing about 'why I and football do not get along', still stuck up with age old novels and stories.
Hope everyone plays well, and may your favourite team win! [Because I donot have mine. :p ]

(Courtesy: Rohit for giving me the details of the game, and teaching me the name of a player.."Thanks a lot buddy." )