WHO WILL WIN THE WORLD CUP FOOTBALL OF 2010

Sanjana: - The whole world is suffering from a severe fever. The symptoms are very common among the patients. They paint their body with different colors and wear colorful flags. They always start dancing on the streets with the tune of K’aan’s ‘Give me freedom, give me fire, give me reason to take me higher’ and Shakira’s ‘Zama Zamina…oye aa…it’s time for Africa’. Is there any vaccine to tackle this viral fever, which is termed as ‘Football Fever’? This epidemic always starts spreading after every 4 years during the month of June and July.

Arindam: - of course, sweetheart, there is a vaccine for this epidemic. Tell all your patients to go and watch the ‘FIFA WORLD CUP 2010’ in South Africa or in front of their TV sets. The vaccine will be available from June 11 to July 11 of 2010.

Sanjana: - by the way, who the hell is this Zakuma? Is he a representative of this famous sports event?

Bikram: - You are absolutely correct, Sanjana? Also, the football got a new touch of costly paints. But, the one million dollar question that everyone is asking is, “WHO WILL WIN THE FOOTBALL WORLD CUP OF 2010”?

Monica: - Well, I think that a European country will lift the world cup. Italy is looking like a new Italy team. They are nowadays not playing the traditional defensive game. Instead they are playing two flying midfielders, who act as Trojan horses. When the defenders are taking time in their defense area, these midfielders enter the attacking zone and then a long zig-zag pass opens the door for a goal. Keep an eye on Milito. Spain believes in bulldozing all the time from the left and right flanks. Portugal players always move like a snake to reach the goal post. England’s midfield is weak but don’t underestimate the long run of any of its defenders. France and Germany are looking somewhat weak, but are still unpredictable. Netherlands is the orange colored dark horse of Europe. You never know when and how they will counterattack in an efficient manner to avoid off sides and score goals.

Vijay: - Don’t rule out any African or Asian team. Ghana and Cameroon are two deadly teams. Ghana has speed and strength and Cameroon has some additional skills. Ivory Coast looks weak without Drogba. South Africa has the advantage of its own home soil, but lacks good players. Nigeria is a team, which can produce wonders but they lack specialist footballers. All the Nigerian players play with a same style and don’t use their brains. Now, among the Asian teams, Japan and South Korea always have a disadvantage because of their short height. South Korea needs to play speedy small passes to beat any European team. Japan’s main strength is their goalkeeper; the second Oliver Kahn. Australia has a good forward line but a poor defense.

Sanjana: - No one is talking about the teams of North America? Are the teams of Mexico and USA so bad? In Group A, Mexico can be the dark horse. USA is looking strong this time.

Bikram: - Just take my words. This time, a team from South America will win the world cup. Chile is again going to produce some wonders. Don’t forget Paraguay and Uruguay. Their traditional football is as deadly as the counterattacking football of Netherlands. What to say about Brazil and Argentina? They are always favorites. But, this time, both Argentina and Brazil lacks any star footballers in their team. Therefore, the team game will be the key. Hey, Arindam, to you, who will win the world cup?

Arindam: - It’s very tough to answer. This world cup will be a war of Speed Vs Skills. As per my analysis, the round of 16 matches will be:- France – Nigeria; England –Ghana; Germany – USA; Argentina – Uruguay; Netherlands – Paraguay; Brazil – Chile; Italy – Cameroon; Spain – Portugal. In Quarter finals, the matches will be: - France – England; Germany – Argentina; Brazil – Netherlands; Cameroon - Portugal. Semi finals will be: - England – Argentina; Brazil – Portugal. The final match will be between Brazil and Argentina. It can change also. I am just telling my views. This World Cup is not having so many superstars, but it will surely create new superstars for the future. Let’s see, who wins this war on 11^th July 2010.

HOSTING ANY MAJOR SPORTS EVENT BOOSTS THE HOST NATION'S ECONOMY

Paritosh: - South Africa under Jacob Zuma is really very lucky. The Nelson Mandela’s nation is really improving a lot in terms of its economic growth. Someone has rightly said that Brazil and South Africa are the super economic powers of the future. In 2009, due to terror threat in India, South Africa got the chance to host the IPL-2. Due to that IPL, many poor children got many financial help from many sponsors. Not only have that, South Africa got lots of Indian tourists for their famous safaris and sea beaches during that IPL season. This time, it is the Football World Cup of 2010. South Africa is just rocking like anything.

Shivani: - Wait for 2011. India and its neighboring cricket playing nations will host the World Cup Cricket.

Paritosh: - Don’t compare ICC World Cup with FIFA World Cup. In Cricket World Cup, there will be hardly 12 or 16 teams at maximum. But, in football world cup, there are 32 countries. Visitors are coming from these 32 countries to South Africa. You cannot imagine, how much money the poor people of South Africa will earn in this season of World Cup Football 2010.

Meera: - India should also try to host Olympics or FIFA World Cup, rather feeling proud of hosting the Cricket World Cup only.

Arindam: - but, you cannot completely disagree to the fact that IPL, despite having its own scams has been able to boost the Indian economy. During IPL, from hotel industries to food retail chains to aviation companies; everyone earns a lot of money.

Shivani: - Yeah, of course. IPL is one of the powerful sports events of the world. We have so many cricket stadiums in our country. That’s why; there is no problem in hosting IPL tournaments.

Paritosh: - Still, if you analyze, then you will find that the revenue earned from an IPL tournament is far less than that earned by hosting an Olympic games or FIFA World Cup. When Beijing got the chance to host Olympics, the ordinary people of China were just dancing in the streets with joy, because they knew that Beijing Olympics will act as a booster for their economy.

Meera: - India is going to host Commonwealth games. It will generate good amount of revenues.

Arindam: - Ha ha ha…to construct some new stadiums for Commonwealth games, the Indian government as well as Delhi government is sweating, because of all the scams and corruptions that got exposed in front of the media. To host any major sports event, first thing you need is a good infrastructure and the zeal from the government side to prove to the world that they can also host any major sports event. That is missing in India. All promoters are corrupted, followed by the politicians. That’s why; you will find galleries of stadiums are collapsing every now and then. Even, to repair a gallery, they are taking more time than expected. If you ask them, they will say, ‘Oh! Our labourers are taking too much time because they are doing a quality job’. But, there is nothing like that. The labourers are intentionally delaying their work to earn more money. A project engineer or a promoter does not understand that if a project is running behind the scheduled time of completion, then the expenses negate the profitability of that project.

Paritosh: - Also, I have seen in many stadiums like Eden Gardens and Salt Lake Stadiums of Kolkata city, the flood lights go off during an international match. This is really a shameful display to the whole world. When an international player from a foreign country like Japan comes to play in India and experiences these things; the first thing he will say is that the sports’ infrastructure of India is very poor.

Meera: - That’s true. Hardly, the young generation people of India know that Kabbaddi is our national sports. Hockey is almost forgotten, but hockey began in India itself. Many people don’t even know whether there is any Indian football team or not. All focus has been given to Cricket, because it has become an avenue for earning money. Indian government should understand the need of building infrastructure for all kinds of sports rather than focusing only on Cricket, because “HOSTING ANY MAJOR SPORTS EVENT BOOSTS THE HOST NATION’S ECONOMY.”