On July 29, 1911, the gentlemen to the right lifted their first IFA Shield as Mohun Bagan defeated the East Yorkshire Regiment by two goals to one. Founded in 1889, Calcutta’s Mohun Bagan are Asia’s oldest football team, and to this day a major force in Indian soccer, along with perennial in-town rivals East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting. Calcutta remains a hotbed of Indian football, with the most famous clubs and the most ardent and knowledgeable international football fans.
A memory: Midway through the US-hosted 1994 World Cup, I learned that my grandmother was ill and unlikely to survive. I flew to Calcutta from Boston, where I had attended two 1st-round matches and one 2nd-round (the Nigeria-Italy of tragic memory). For two weeks, my father and I held death watch in the family house. Our sole distraction was the World Cup matches that beamed in to the ill-tempered black-and-white television at ungodly hours of the night. In this nether state we saw the heroics of Romania’s Georghe Hagi, Sweden’s unlikely run, and Branco’s 30-meter free-kick that broke the Brazil-Netherlands tie. At 8 a.m. the armada of doctors would appear. They too had risen at 3 to watch the games. We’d analyze Colombia’s strange collapse or Brazil’s atypically dull style as they hovered over my grandmother, our own drama sadly easier to predict than, say, the fact that Brazil would beat Italy in the final on, of all things, a missed Roberto Baggio penalty.
Minutes away as I write this, Germany and Costa Rica will kick off this year’s tournament. In Calcutta, LCD and plasma television sales have doubled, says the Telegraph. The paper provides its readers with an invaluable feature on World Cup viewing tips which will be useful to sepia aficionados worldwide.
It covers dress:
The price may be a little steep at Rs 2,700, but Adidas is seeing team jerseys of Argentina, Germany, Spain and France fly off the shelves in city stores. Ditto for Nike jerseys of Brazil, Portugal and Holland, priced at Rs 2,495.
Posture:
The TV set should be at eye level, at a distance of at least five to six feet. Sit upright in straight-backed cushioned chair with head and lumbar support….
That Calcutta is becoming more conscious of the cramp and the cringe is clear from the queries reaching gyms about what to do during World Cup viewing.
“An erect posture should be maintained while sitting for such long hours because if the posture is faulty back trouble is inevitable. Reclining chairs are not advised,” says Divya Himatsingka of Gold’s Gym.
Exercise:
“Stretches and lower-back exercises are a must to keep fit through the Cup month. Get up at brief intervals and take a short walk; at half-time do some stretching to prevent stiffness,” says Sabyasachi Roy of Addlife, the gym planning to distribute a special-exercise plan among patrons watching the World Cup.
Hydration:
Dietician Shalini Agarwal prescribes no more than two cups of tea or coffee for a 90-minute match. “Too much of tea and coffee will mar whatever chances you have of catching some sound sleep,” warns Shalini. Her recommendation: iced-tea flavoured with ginger or fresh lime with soda.
If that isn’t your cup of tea, mixologist Irfan Ahmed picks beer as the safest drink to cheer the Cup. “Or go for Sangria, an ideal summer beverage, red wine flavoured with citrus and fresh juice.” If your team wins, keep tequila shots handy, says Irfan.
Diet:
Dietician Shalini Agarwal lists some finger food to keep munching during the matches while keeping those extra calories at bay:
– Sprouted bhel (puffed rice, sprouted grams, mint chutney, tamarind chutney, onion, tomato and chaat masala)
– Microwave popcorn (low-fat variety, of course)
– Home-made potato chips
– Home-made burgers.
And this life-saving health warning:
Cardiac patients should be extra careful about going crazy over goals scored — and missed.
Bhel, tequila and stretches: Ladies and gentlemen of the Mutiny, I’m ready! WILLKOMMEN ZUM FUSSBALL and may France Brazil Ivory Coast the best team win!
It is time like these, when i realize how different US of A is from other countries. While there is soccer fever going on around the world, there is barely any noise here.
Who needs others when we have our own “world series”!
It’s on!!
LET. THE GAMES. BEGIN.
(Mad props to my Costa Rican brothers)
Germany scored!
It’s going to be a freaking turkey shoot.
WAAHOOO! Sid, you are an AMAZING human being for bringing fussbal to the Mutiny.
YES!
Costa Rica pulled one back. It’s now even.
Two goals in twelve minutes. What an open game.
(OK, OK, I know, this is nothing to do with the Mutiny. So, I’ll take my excitement elsewhere.)
Love it! Thanks for the tips Sid – ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ!!!
not so fast my man! El ‘Chope got his word to say! Beautiful equalizer!
“Who needs others when we have our own “world series”!”
or as steven colbert said, when the rest of the globe uses the word “world” they actually include other countries! 1-1. so much for the exciting vs. unexciting scoreless draws colbert was having fun with.
I wish I could be in India or Europe. It’s sad to be in US during the world cup. The Irish pubs during England games are the only place where you get a feel of what it means to the rest of the world.
dipanjan,
wrong my brother! take heart! if you are in any kind of major city, you have immigrant options. what city are you in? if it happens to be nyc, washington, houston, atlanta, chicago, or los angeles, you’ll do fine. other cities have some options too, depending on which immigrant communities are big there.
where you at?
I am in SF bay area. I have a couple of English friends and will go to the Irish pubs with them. I know the Mexico games are huge here, so will probably try out some Mexican restaurant/bars during those games. Still it’s not the real thing. The saddest part is no one cares about the US team and they have been playing decent football over the last twenty years or so – not good to look at, but effective.
Siddhartha,
When is/are the NYC SM World Cup meetup(s)?
😉
“Football Fan”
Can any of the soccer/football fans out there explain to an ABD like me why India isn’t fielding a world-class soccer team? Is it that the country is too obsessed with cricket, badminton and field hockey?
GOOOOOOOL.
Chope! Chope! Chope!
FF,
Watch this space for an announcement… soon. I’m trying to finish a couple of things on deadline so I can turn my entire focus to the tournament! I’ll try to post a plan this evening, ok? Thanks for needling me on this.
SM
Will do. Hope to see you (again) soon.
“FF”
work in progress. BTW italy fielded a hockey team in the oly’s that was lifted from canada, so this is a feasible option
Man, what did Torsten Frings have in his freakin’ boot?
4-2 Ze Chermans were victorious, but the Costa Ricans earned maximum respect. Wanchope brung it.
While Siddhartha comes up with the ideal plot for the NYC World Cup Desification , I’ll suggest two matches for tomorrow.
Inglaterra faces Paraguay at 9 in the morning. At three in the afternoon, a massive game as Argentina collides with Cote d’Ivoire. I’m definitely watching both.
Who’s up for the earlier match? I’m thinking Panino Roma Sportivo on 120 and Amsterdam is a nice neutral spot for the game.
Bong football trivia: East Bengal/Mohun Bagan is quite firmly divided along ethnic Bengali lines. So if your ancestors (or the majority thereof) were from pre-partition Bangladesh, you were automatically considered an E. Bengal supporter, and vice versa. When I first moved to middle school in Calcutta from Bombay, the local bullies demanded to know who I supported (with the objective of determining which gang I should roll with, I suppose).
Bully 1: East Bengal ki Mohun Bagan?
Me: What? I have no idea. That’s soccer right?
Bully 2: Yes. Are you Bong?
Me: Yeah…100%
Bully 1: And you don’t know which team you support?
Me: Um, I am kinda new here.
Bully 1: Who does your dad support? Your uncles? Grandpa?
Me: I have no idea. So which one is better? grinning amiably now Which one do you support?
Bully 2: Where were your great grandparents from?
Me: Dhaka I think… at least two sets were from there/
Bully 1: Ah…then it’s resolved. You’re East Bengal! Great!
Me: Well, that’s good to know.
ahh…let the games begin… just mailed out a package to my brother/friends who are leaving in 2 wks to attend some of the games… face paint and all that jazz.. what i’m ticked off about is this…. what? no real beer in the stands? that is bullsh*t.. it’s times like these when i sometimes abhor american sponsorship of things that should not be..especially in the country with um.. better beer…
i’m headed RIGHT NOW to La Ecuatoriana, on Amsterdam at 144th, for the ecuador-poland match. kobayashi, i like your morning venue tomorrow.
Wake me up when september ends.
uh-oh. we’re mohun bagan. though there are rumors of e.b. supporters in the outer reaches of the family tree…
World Cup Fever is the best sports fever EVER. I have one friend here, and a German roommate, who understands and is willing to school me in all things football. I’m excited =)
“Inglaterra faces Paraguay at 9 in the morning. At three in the afternoon, a massive game as Argentina collides with Cote d’Ivoire. I’m definitely watching both.”
you forgot the Trinis vs. the Swedes:)
India has a rich football history. To all who don’t know much about Indian football. Check out IndianFootball.com maintained by Arunava Chaudhari. Here are two excerpts.
International Team:
National Cup:
Seriously, give me an example of Indian football prowess within the last 6 years…
None. Make that 50 yrs and the answer will remain the same.
In the last six years, the biggest star is Baichung Bhutiya who had a stint with Manchester Bury in English League. The only recent international success is the victory in LG cup beating East and South East Asian countries who are currently way ahead of India in FIFA rankings.
However, things were not always this bad. India was the Asian champion in 1951 and 1962, finished third in 1970. They also finished fourth in 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Even in late seventies and early eighties, they were almost at par with China,Japan and South Korea. If there was a quota of five Asian teams in the world cup back then as there is now, India probably would have qualified in seventies and maybe even in early eighties. It has been a steady downhill since then. Rising popularity of cricket is one reason. Also other countries have made huge progress using modern facilities, diet, medicines. A lot of private investments and sponsorships went into football as the economies of those countries grew. By the time India started to open up their economy, football already had lost ground to cricket in terms of popularity.
Thats a nice blog post on Indian football, dipanjan.
That’s highly unrealistic. Back then (till 1978), there were only 16 teams in the World Cup..today there are 32 teams.
BrooklynBrown & brown_fob,
In the language of football: YOU GUYS ARE TITS! Why are you guys so negative? Whatever happened to loyalty? Why don’t you two go buy some Brasil jerseys and pretend to know football.
There are very few nations in the world that are really good. Furthermore, AFC(Asian Football Committee) gets only 3 1/2 births as compared to South America which gets 4 1/2 births for the World Cup. The competition between more nations in the Asian continent along with the lack of financial support from India are reasons for the lack of success. Regardless the World Cup is about loyalty and pride. We shall have our day, just be patient.
Honestly, I prefer saying that I have “man boobs”. 😉
yawn
I think it’s perfectly fine to say that we suck at something in the hopes that your lauded Indian pride will sweep across the subcontinent and enable us to (maybe) even participate in a World Cup match sometime in the next 20 years. A dream? Maybe. I guess we’ll continue this discussion every four years.
i love how this post is filed under “religion”!
ROTFLMAO at the Bong football trivia and the earnest Telegraph advice. So Desidudeingotham, were you ever called upon to take the ultimate test of team loyalty, i.e. burning down the Mohun Bagan stadium?
Anyone know why it’s only Bengal that’s football crazy in India?
Bengal’s football craze is explained by the British connection. Calcutta was the seat of the British power, the capital of the empire. Bengalis came under the influence of English language, European culture and sporting activities earlier than most of the rest of India. Apart from Bengal, football is very popular in Kerala and Goa as well and that is also explained by the strong European influence.
and kerala too.
the theory is that it has to do with communism. in cricket only one team runs behind the ball, while the other (bloody elites) hit it around. in football everyone runs behind the ball. see?
Not sure I buy the seat of the empire argument (though having lived in Calcutta I can attest to its colonial hangover) because there are many more Brit-influenced, cantonment-ish areas where football is not so popular. the Communism idea may work…was it ever promoted by the CPI/CPI(M) as the Game of the Masses?
No, Bengal’s football craze predates its communism craze by about 75 years.
My dear friends (BRASIL!!), I can only (BRASIL!!) encourage you to have a subdued and (BRASIL!!) relaxed World Cup experience, drawing upon your higher natures (BRASIL!!) and favouring no team (BRASIL!!) above another. Rather, (BRASIL!!) take in the sheer joy of the game, and bask in the (BRASIL!!) radiance of the world’s great athletes bending their collective (BRASIL!!) mental and physical power to the (BRASIL!!) task at hand. Root not for one team (BRASIL!!); root for all (BRASIL!!).
(BRASIL!!) (BRASIL!!) (BRASIL!!)
I’ll bet a pan of mum’s barfi on Brasil. Takers?
Ofcourse. Even as we speak I am planning to raze Siddhartha’s playboy pad to the ground as a proxy for the real thing.
Nobody. Because mallu’s are just as crazy.
How dare you. I resemble that comment.
Btw, those really lame World Cup tips are all over the Indian papers. The best is for women, how to dress for the World Cup. Answer: in a bikini, so your man has a shot at noticing you.
Yeah, the broadsheets are basically tabloids.
Yup. It’s way more fun in, say, Bombay. Fever!
Trinidad & Tobago (40% desi) just managed to hang on with a team that appears from the roster to be… 0% desi.
Well ok. Fine. Not that crazy. On a related note how the bong football craziness crosses the border (to my formerly East Bengal compadres) is well documented by the Economist here. Money quote:
well, dd-in-gotham, what say you?
No idea bytewords. It is an interesting hypothesis though.
I always saw cricket as being ‘promoted’ more, in terms of funding etc. But this is a Calcutta boy’s perspective. I suppose the rest of the state is still football crazy.
In other news, someone from Zeenews gets the Mohun Bagan/E. Bengal equation completely wrong by making it a classist thing. To wit –
Plebian my ass. You mean prole, right?
A friend tells me that the ‘Hindi Samna'(Shivsena Pravada, Hindi edition) ran a headline a couple of days ago making a play on the urdu idiom “Begaani Shaadi mein Abdullah deewana”. It ran “Begaani Shaadi mein Hindustan deewana” with commentary on how cricket crazy India suddenly seems football crazy inspite of our team being nowhere close… Hindutva, of course, mandated the substitution of Abdullah by Hindustan.
lucky blighters in the western hemisphere… i’m going have to experiment with inverted days…i want the cup played in asia again, dammit!
Check out this story about Kerala’s lefty love of football turning to a pragmatic capitalist acceptance of cricket in perfect harmony with historical shifts in Indian politics…haha.
http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/cricinfomagazine/content/current/story/248429.html