Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad   

Day's flavour was French

V. V. Subrahmanyam

Zidane's `ramming' act drew wild cheers from the fans who gathered to watch the match on the giant screen at L.B.Stadium in Hyderabad. One die-hard cried out `kya maara yaar!'

HYDERABAD: For football lovers, Sunday night was special. About 3,000 of them assembled at the Lal Bahadur Stadium to witness the World Cup football final between Italy and France on a giant screen.

The venue is more famous for Sachin Tendulkar's batting exploits. But this time, Zinedine Zidane was singled out for applause. Every move by the French captain was cheered lustily. Not surprisingly, there were more French fans around.

And the typical Hyderabadi slang made its presence felt. "Kya maara yaar" was the spontaneous reaction when Zidane `head butted' into the Italian defender's chest in the dying minutes of the match. There was not even a murmur of dissent at the unfortunate incident. Instead, a roar of laughter erupted and fans enacted `replays' instantly on the lawns.

A stroll in the park?

They were so involved in the match that there were protests whenever some took their own time to settle down at a vantage place to watch the match. Prompt came reminders from the back rows "Kya re, park me ghoom raha hai kya (are you roaming in the park), jaldi bait jaa (sit down quickly)."

The punch line came at the end of the match. "Itne cricketers aye, lekin ek bhi footballer ye standard ka, hum produce nahin kare yaar, too much hai," was the comment straight from the heart.

No to Italia

All stayed put till the shoot-out was over. And, when the Azzurris lifted the Cup, there were many glum faces around.

Clearly the idea of the SAAP VC & MD G.Kamala Vardhana Rao to set up the giant screen in collaboration with MIC was a big hit with the soccer fans. Who says only cricket is popular in India?

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