Diehard Fans

Just got back from Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh had no stake at the World Cup, football fever gripped the whole nation. Fans proudly flaunted the flags of their favorite teams from their windows and rooftops. Out of sheer boredom, I decided to do a rough flag-count on my way from Mogbazar to Uttara. Here's what I noted - 21 brazilian flags, 18 argentine, 4 german, 2 italian, 1 saudi, 1 french. My Ukranian co-worker remarked that if he didn't know where he was, he would have guessed that he had landed in Brazil or Argentina. The disappointment was palpable after both countries bowed out before semi-finals.

Most of the diehard fans definately belonged to the Argentina camp. I read in the news that fans stormed an electricity office in Dhaka following a power failure during the Argentina-Germany quarter final match. The same day two people died of heart failure after Argentina lost to Germany in a penalty shootout.