Footie fever ‘kick’s off!

Jun 08, 2010 - Ikyatha Yerasala (The Asian Age)

Excitement. Fervour. Hysteria. Madness. And the rollercoaster ride begins on June 11 on your TV screens! Yes, football fanatics are eagerly awaiting the FIFA World Cup and they can’t wait to see how their favourite teams and players will fare. Footie buffs share their favourites.
For Ritansha Patni, a 19-year-old BBM student from Christ University, it’s England all the way. “Wayne Rooney will be the best player. I’ve been watching him play and he’s had a brilliant run in the EPL (English Premier League). Indian supporters of Manchester United and Chelsea can identify with England. My second favourite is Portugal. I like Cristiano Ronaldo, the captain. After he left Manchester United to join Real Madrid, I didn’t get to see him in the EPL. I can make up for the lost time by watching him play at the world cup,” she says.
However, she feels that Spain has a very good chance of winning, thanks to their unbelievable line-up. “But my loyalty is with EPL and I’ll root for England,” says Ritansha, who is planning to chill with her friends at sports bars and enjoy the matches.
Engineering student Vinay Kartha is rooting for Spain. “It’s a start studded team. I’m a fan of many players from Spain. Not many Spanish players play for EPL, which we see all through the year. I’m a big fan of the Spanish Premier League, which they don’t air regularly. A lot of Spanish players play for SPL, they are a dominating force,” says the student of PESIT.
He is looking forward to see Spanish players who play for Barcelona like Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta in action. “Their goalkeeper Iker Casillas is one of the best and they have world class strikers,” says Vinay, who made sure that he has a digital cable set so he doesn’t miss out on any channel that is airing the World Cup. His second favourite is Argentina. “They might be underdogs, but they definitely have talent.”
England and Spain are the countries that Kapil Sikka, a third year engineering student, will be rooting for. “We watch players from the English team play for different teams in the EPL as rivals. But now they will be coming together to form a great team. I’m a Chelsea fan and Frank Lampard is one of my favourites.” But he feels that Spain is stronger. “They have a great attacking unit. They have mid fielders like Cesc Fabregas, good defenders like Sergio Ramos and strikers like Fernando Torres and David Villa,” adds Kapil.

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