A 100 square feet cemented area, two diminutive goal posts, sodium vapor lamps, eight teams and mutton Biriyani for lunch – it’s all that takes to organize a Euro Knockout Challenge.
Don’t believe me?
Welcome to the paras of Kolkata. Be it cricket or football, the various paras (localities) of Kolkata are always upbeat to organise their versions of the IPLs and the World Cups.
During the recent visit, my city welcomed me with a new flyover near the airport, humid weather, loads of KKR bill boards and as I entered my locality, a banner of the Euro Challenge Knockout!
5 – a side 1 day Euro Cup Knock Out9th and 10th June 2010Organised by Nobo Sadharon SonghoTeams: Germany, Spain, England, Holland, Portugal, France, Russia and Italy
It wasn’t a surprise for me because I have witnessed these para tournaments from my childhood days but this time being associated with a sports website, it intrigued me even more.
These Knockouts normally follow a pattern – five a side, held on weekends, played under halogen lights, teams from neighboring localities dressed up as international teams, passionate spectators and Mutton Biriyani and lime soda for lunch.
So as I made my way in on the second day of the tournament, I was greeted gleefully by a known volunteer who ushered me into the VIP zone.
“Tumi boss ekhon repoter, tae tumi full VIP… (You’re a sports reporter now, so you’re a VIP)”, he smiled at me as I made myself comfortable in the VIP zone.
The second semi-finals was in progress and Spain were playing Portugal. Interestingly, along with Xavi, Iniesta and Torres, Spain had a Raul and even more interestingly had Messi playing for them (thanks to the Barcelona overdose)! That got me curious and I glanced at the team sheet on the scorer’s table and England still had Beckham and Owen, Portugal had Figo, Russia had Ashraveen and Pablochencho, Italy still carried the ghost of Roberto Baggio and Holland had two Robins!
“Oije ekta Robin Van Pesie arekta teko Urgent Robin! (one Robin Van Persie and one bald Urgent Robin)”, was the clarification.
Somehow controlling my burst of laughter, I concentrated on the game which was pretty entertaining. Though the names and the cheap jerseys made it look funny, the quality of the game was right up there. There was everything – pin point passing, the step overs, the nutmegs, the crunching challenges, the tugging at shirts and a passionate audience. Every move was cheered and every miss sighed at. It showed that they might get the spellings and pronunciations of the names wrong but when it came to the game, the knowledge was intact.
From the ten year old to the mid sixty uncles, everyone had an opinion.
“Khela hoto amader somoy bujhli …class khela….Pele r Garincha dekhle oisob Ronaldo bhule jetis…” If the youngistan rooted for Ronaldo and Messi, the ‘oldies’ lamented how the quality of football had gone down.
At the end of a grueling thirty minutes of football, Portugal sent Spain packing and I decided to leave when the sweat stained kurta clad volunteer ran up to me, handed me a packet of Biriyani and a Gatorade and said with a smile…
“Boss…amader niye parle ektu likho… (If you can, please write about us)!”
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