Breaking News : A Goal !

Soccer-craze : Real or artificial ?
I reside in a place where football is the No.1 sport - not cricket. In the whole of Indian sub-continent, cricket is the favourite sport. But in certain pockets like Bengal,Kerala, Goa and the North-east, it is football that reigns supreme. Assemble any Indian football XI and players from these region will dominate the team. The soccer-clubs of these region are as old as any other part of the world. The advent of FIFA Worldcup is like a festive season here. Some of the most fanatic fans of Brazil can also be found here. Even the fury of monsoon-rains have not dimished their enthusiasm for the game.

But what about the 'soccer-mania' in the rest of the country ?
If the vast media-coverage of on-going Worldcup-2010 is an indication, it seems like soccer-craze is catching up with the rest of India as well. The TV-channels have devoted their time exclusively for Worldcup with 'breaking-news' every time a goal is scored. Going with the trend, TV-anchors and VJs appear on the screen carrying football as a prop. The sudden shift of media-focus towards soccer even prompted the publicity-obsessed Bollywood stars to turn soccer-fans overnight ! So is soccer the next big thing in the country ?

Let's not be too optimistic. It's naive to reach a conclusion based on the hype or hysteria generated by the media. To 'follow the herd' is after all a characteristic trait in this part of the world. And the latest football-fever can't come at a better time. The national pastime cricket is already in doldrums due to the corruptible influence of Big Business and Bollywood. There was a time when India dominated the world hockey and it was the popular sport for decades. Then India won the cricket worldcup and world-champioships in the 80s, and everyone jumped into the cricket bandwagon.
Similarly if Indian soccer needs to go places, its national-team must achieve great results - atleast at Asian level if not world-level. But then comes the real challenge : that is - to meet the high expectations and high demands of millions.