Football dribbles past everything in north Kerala. Come any international tournament and the Mecca of seven-a-side football forgets everything else.
MALAPPURAM: Six Brazilians and six Argentines brave each other on a football field in Malappuram. The game goes on past 5 pm as the players allow themselves oodles of extra time. Finally, reluctantly, the boys, winners and losers, grab their school bags and run for the bus. Brazil beat Argentina 2-1.
In football-crazy Malappuram, fans wear their loyalty on their sleeves. “Yesterday, Argentina beat us. Today, we won the game. Brazil can’t afford to lose,” Shanavas, a class five student yells. His classmate Vipin, an Argentine, swears at his teammates for wasting that last-minute chance.
Football dribbles past age, language, region and religion in north Kerala. Come any international tournament and the Mecca of seven-a-side football forgets everything else. Shops in the town display the flags of all the 32 nations participating in the World Cup that’ll kick off on Friday.
Munich is here in Malappuram for the next one month with theatres showing the matches live and soccer clubs organising public viewing on every wayside. “No one watches the matches alone at home. We want to participate in the game as if we were in a gallery,” Madhu Janardanan, who has shot a documentary on Malappuram football, said.
On Wednesday, music director Shahbaz Aman had his audience - including former Indian strikers U Sharaf Ali, CV Pappachan, Joe Paul Ancheri — enthralled with what he claims to be the first soccer ghazal. After singing Diego Maradona’s rainbow kicks, he promised to return with more.
Football is so well blended in Malappuram’s blood that an NRI businessman built a stadium for his townsfolk. Mohammed Rabih, a former player himself, built the stadium on two acres of land and gifted a colour television each to 17 soccer clubs in the town.
The streets are agog with huge cutouts of soccer stars and flags, predominantly Brazil and Argentina. “We have designed some 100 flex boards so far. In Malappuram, it’s madness,” said Anwar, sitting in front of the blue-white, yellow-green computer screens at his DTP center in Kottakkal.
Though Latin America is the dominant power here, even Saudi Arabia has fans.
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