Bengalis' Football

Bengalis are by nature very emotional. They can emotionally identify themselves with any thing that’s their favorite. Now is the turn for world Cup foot ball. Bengalis have inherent love for football all along and before cricket was not as popular as now all their hopes and aspirations hovered around football in the arena of sports and games. Then East Bengal and Mohun Bagan football teams were their icons. Normally, people of East Bengal , now Bangladesh, nicknamed as Bangal, were supporters of East Bengal and West Bengal people called Ghatis were fans of Mohun Bagan.However, there were many exceptions too. On the days of matches between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, tension ran high among the fans of the two teams. The hard core supporters of the team that conceded defeat were so emotionally upset that they skipped even their dinners. On the other hand in the opposite camp the fans celebrated victory over their dinners with hilsa fish or prawn depending on which team had won-East Bengal or Mohun Bagan.However, with the passage of time this kind of madness and passionate support for team of their choice among the fans has much waned as has been much thinner between the line of demarcation between Ghatis and Bangals , thanks to growing matrimonial relationship among them. Still Bengali soccer fans are mainly divided between supporters of East Bengal and of Mohun Bagan.

Perhaps, advent of electronic media might be responsible for Bengalis’ decline in their zeal for home football. Electronic media, in fact, brought them the opportunity to enjoy world class soccer. They can now see to what lofty height football has reached compared to the standard of football their home teams play. True, Bengal has produced many great footballers, but India now ranks 133 in world football and has the remotest chance of making it to World Cup. It’s now just a day dream ! So Bengalis, ardent lover of football, can not but go almost frenzied when World Cup is held every four years. They even lay awake whole night to see football matches for days together. Some also take leave from their place of work to enjoy world cup, so obsessed they’re with the best tournament of the globe. Earlier most Bengalis were supporters of Brazil and Pele' was their idol But it was Maradona magic that fans are now chiefly polarized between Brazil and Argentina and Maradona is now as adorable as Pele', if not more to some soccer fans.Bengalis’ passion for football is unbeatable and would remain undiminished for all time to come.