Lyari and World Cup

The football loving locality is rooting for Brazil

The 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup is being played in Qatar with teams now cementing their place in the final 16.

The biggest sporting event in the world is headlining news everywhere, sometimes for football action, while other times for non-football stuff.

The world is going absolutely crazy for their favourite players and teams. Meanwhile, there are big nations who have been emotionally and mentally invested in the campaign despite their country not being a part of it.

Pakistan has never come close to qualifying for the football World Cup and it is very unlikely that they would play in the near future due to lack of facilities and opportunities for the players, internal politics and whatnot.

However, the country, which has a population of over 200 million, loves the game. Football enthusiasts love and celebrate different teams for different reasons.

Lyari, one of the oldest inhabited parts of Karachi, is one of the places that are under the spell of this ongoing tournament. Glimpses of admiration and excitement for the sport is evident by the walls painted and pasted with players’ sketch and photographs, respectively.

Most of the fans have also hoisted flags of their favourite teams on the roofs of their houses.

Though there are Ronaldo and Messi fans, one team that rules the hearts of most of the football fans in the locality is Brazil. This is the very reason why this sports-loving area of the metropolis is known as a mini Brazil.

Brazil are placed in Group G alongside Switzerland, Serbia and Cameroon. By winning their first two games against the two European sides in the group, they advanced to the next stage of the tournament.

The whole locality is painted in yellow and blue, the colours of the five-time world champions. The residents are ecstatic with Brazil, who are rated as one of the favourites to lift the trophy, qualifying for the next round without any hiccups.

From Pele, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Kaka to now Neymar Jr, the inhabitants of Lyari consider them as their own people.

Muhammad Hamzah, a 10-year-old football fan, maintained that he has been an avid follower of the Brazil team since he was born because he has seen people around him rooting for the side unconditionally.

“My family also supports other teams, but most people like Brazil,” he said while talking to Bol News. “I am a fan of Neymar Jr and I am very happy with Brazil’s performance in this World Cup.”

Meanwhile, Karim Baloch, now 68 years old, has been a club-level football player himself. He stated that he has seen how the neighbourhood has evolved over time and their ways to support their favourite football team.

“It was challenging to watch football World Cup matches back in the day, but now for some years, large screens have been installed in the neighbourhoods to televise the game,” he said.

Talking about their admiration for the South American nation, he claimed that people in Lyari feel Brazilians as their brothers.

Karim is a fan of great Pele – undoubtedly one of the best players to ever step on a football field. “There are even better players, but no one is or was like Pele,” he said, hoping that the former champions will replicate their performance from the World Cup 2002 in Qatar.

On the other hand, a football player Zakaria expressed agony with the local football authorities that only destroy the local football talent.

“I am hopeless, I have seen the condition of many footballers in Lyari which is very bad,” said Zakaria, who also works as a labourer to make ends meet. “Many footballers have left this game due to financial constraints and many international footballers are forced to live a miserable life.”

He complained that Lyari gets highlighted for other issues, but no one helps the talent here, which results in wasting a number of potential Messis and Ronaldos.

“During every FIFA World Cup, Lyari gets a little media coverage, otherwise no one comes to highlight the issues of footballers here,” he said. “Almost all departments of football have been closed, and now it’s almost impossible to pursue this sport in Pakistan,”