What our sports fraternity thinks...
Despite being wholly dedicated to their own professions, the sports fraternity of Pakistan is keen to voice its opinion on who deserves the most hype. PHOTO: AFP
With just one day remaining for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the world is feverishly debating about the outcome of the tournament. Fans from all over the world are eagerly anticipating the mega tournament as 32 teams will clash in the hot and humid conditions of Brazil.
Despite being wholly dedicated to their own professions, the sports fraternity of Pakistan is keen to voice its opinion on who deserves the most hype. Ranging from football to cricket and snooker to scrabble, all players young and old support their favourite teams fervently.
However, it is safe to predict who the crowd favourite is when it comes to the opinion of Pakistani athletes. After a discussion with these enthusiasts, it is evident that they back Brazil as the front-runners in this year’s edition. From the senior-most football player to the youngest national club player, Brazil seem to be the obvious contenders for the 2014 title.
Apart from the five-time winners, Spain, Germany and Portugal have been preferred over other teams. In some cases, individual players hold more importance than the teams. For instance, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazil’s Neymar seem to have a strong fan following in Pakistan. In a nutshell, it can be concluded that despite the Pakistan football team’s failure to qualify in any World Cups to date, the event has always been followed by the players from all sports of the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2014.