The Cup of Life...

The pulse is riveting, the air pregnant with expectations and the experience should be exhilarating.

Yes, the cup of life is back. It’s been an exquisitely painful wait and the Cup of deliverance is at hand. For weeks, the world has been twittering anxiously, the English (for a change) more involved in the team’s tactics rather than unraveling intricacies of metatarsals ,Kolkata panwallas ready to debate the merits of 4-3-3 and even the most tenacious of housewives taking time off from their tea-parties to understand the offside rule. .The World Cup pushes at the margins of madness in the obsession it incites, in the extremes of elation and despair it provokes .Fans meanwhile will be forced to produce a dexterity  that will send the likes of Messi dizzy ,at once juggling time zones , job ,children, wife and goal differences.

The world cup has been a mesmerizing spectacle, just not because of the exalted quality of soccer that will be exhibited, but this is the paragonal pinnacle of the word’s most popular game. Coaches will reverse tactics, chew fingernails and exhale smoke from quite a few orifices, most notably their ears .They will pray to their Gods for the absence of injury, wonder if the only way to stop Messi, Rooney or Robben is to hire a hitman. Moreover, this is a chance for the always grief stricken and delusional Africa to shine on the global stage. Officials will blithely go on about world peace stating football must do what politicians have failed to do. But if soccer’s role must not be overestimated, neither should it be undervalued. In the Ivory Coast, a country torn to shreds by the atrocities of racial and ethnic discrimination, the team has become an unifying symbol and even if differences are temporarily mowed down, football has played its part.

Soccer appeals to all; a game elemental yet complicated, seducing both novice and expert. The game has a distinctive aura of rhythm, flair and music attached to it….attacks gradually elegantly building up and swirling into a crescendo. While Messi is the singular proof of football’s beauty as a sport , its players like Rooney who make you stand and applaud for their indomitable spirit and unflinching desire.

In the World Cup, every nation silhouettes its dreams on the canvas of global expectations. We have waited and waited, watched as teams chopped and changed, regurgitated old rivalries, argued Maradona and Pele, wondered if Africa will reach the finals and even had a bet if there will be a Spain-Brazil final.

And now, its time to stop the talking. Lets play.