Every time a World Cup came around, the south Kolkata neighbourhood in which I spent several of my boyhood years would be transformed. Walls would become canvases. On them would be nearly life-sized, life-like paintings of Brazilian football players. Kolkata, a city of self-styled aesthetes, would bow at the altar of o jogo bonito. And who could exemplify the beautiful game better than Brazil?
In 1986, though, things changed. The walls remained decked-up the way they used to be. But as Diego Armando Maradona exploded on to our TV screens and singlehandedly won Argentina the World Cup in Mexico, hundreds of thousands of fans in the city made him the object of their veneration. Argentina became, in the hearts of football followers, at least as much of a popular team to root for as Brazil.
The Indian football fan is faced with this problem before every international tournament. Which team to support? And this conundrum is not unique to India. After all, only 32 countries are playing in the 2022 World Cup that kicks off in Qatar on Sunday. Merely 32. That is far, far fewer than the number of countries across the world that have fanatical football fans.
However disgruntled he may be over coach Didier Deschamps’s defensive approach, however much he may believe that the goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris, is past his prime, the French fan will always support France. Certain English fans feel that Gareth Southgate should not have been coach for this World Cup. Many are vocal about how they want a more prominent role for the flamboyant playmaker, Jack Grealish. But when play begins in a full, rowdy stadium, they get behind England.
For fans in countries which are not in the competition, and are unlikely to ever be, the solution is to idealise star power. To pick one’s favourite player and root for the team he plays for. Johann Cryuff and the Netherlands. Franz Beckenbauer and West Germany. Paolo Maldini and Italy. Lionel Messi and Argentina. Kylian Mbappe and France. Ronaldo and Portugal. Neymar and Brazil. Luka Modric and Croatia. In this way, these fans turn a team game almost into an individual sport.
For fans in countries which are not in the competition, and are unlikely to ever be, the solution is to idealise star power
This is also much of a piece with our current sporting and cultural climate. It is an environment in which, amid the white noise of social media commentary and strident punditry, the sport-industrial complex is crazed with the notion of celebrity more than ever before. The obscenely wealthy, celebrity footballer as a brand often bigger than the team he plays for – from David Beckham to Cristiano Ronaldo – is one of the most recognisable cultural tropes of our times.
The philosophy of a certain way of playing, be it Brazil’s jogo bonito, or Spain’s mesmerising tiki taka, all fluid passes and geometric movement, has traditionally inspired their own following. However, in terms of the quality of football, the World Cup is no patch on elite European club football, including, above all, the Champions League. The top clubs cherry-pick the best players in the world. So, when two leading club sides turn out against one another, the intensity and quality of play, and the galaxy of star players on show, are of a different dimension. In the World Cup, on the other hand, especially in the group stages, there are always lots of underwhelming matches.
Weekend Essays from The National
In that context, it is simpler for a fan from a non-playing country to pick his favourite player and throw the weight of his support behind the country that footballer plays for. And it is so easy to have favourites these days. With leagues and domestic cups from around the world being streamed or telecast live through the season, there is a huge smorgasbord of action for the fan to devour. He is far more exposed to star players and their styles of play, their strengths and their attractions, than, say, in the 1970s and 1980s. Those were the days when the only whiff of global football the fan would get was from tournaments like the World Cup or the Euros.
This World Cup offers us, probably for the last time on this stage, two of the greatest club footballers of all time: Messi and Ronaldo. Messi has scored 90 goals for Argentina; Ronaldo has scored 117 for Portugal. The two men have defined and illuminated elite European club football for years and years. But neither has had success at a World Cup. Messi won the Copa America in 2021 – his most significant achievement in the colours of his country. Ronaldo’s Portugal won the Euros in 2016. Argentina are one of the favourites at the tournament. So are Brazil, whose star player, Neymar, has not won a World Cup either. Kylian Mbappe – the teenaged prodigy from the 2018 edition and now arguably the world’s most electrifying attacker and biggest celebrity footballer – has already won one World Cup.
Their legions of fans will be keenly watching. It is a mouth-watering prospect.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Black Panther
Dir: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o
Five stars
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
It’ll be summer in the city as car show tries to move with the times
If 2008 was the year that rocked Detroit, 2019 will be when Motor City gives its annual car extravaganza a revamp that aims to move with the times.
A major change is that this week's North American International Auto Show will be the last to be held in January, after which the event will switch to June.
The new date, organisers said, will allow exhibitors to move vehicles and activities outside the Cobo Center's halls and into other city venues, unencumbered by cold January weather, exemplified this week by snow and ice.
In a market in which trends can easily be outpaced beyond one event, the need to do so was probably exacerbated by the decision of Germany's big three carmakers – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi – to skip the auto show this year.
The show has long allowed car enthusiasts to sit behind the wheel of the latest models at the start of the calendar year but a more fluid car market in an online world has made sales less seasonal.
Similarly, everyday technology seems to be catching up on those whose job it is to get behind microphones and try and tempt the visiting public into making a purchase.
Although sparkly announcers clasp iPads and outline the technical gadgetry hidden beneath bonnets, people's obsession with their own smartphones often appeared to offer a more tempting distraction.
“It's maddening,” said one such worker at Nissan's stand.
The absence of some pizzazz, as well as top marques, was also noted by patrons.
“It looks like there are a few less cars this year,” one annual attendee said of this year's exhibitors.
“I can't help but think it's easier to stay at home than to brave the snow and come here.”
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Rain Management
Year started: 2017
Based: Bahrain
Employees: 100-120
Amount raised: $2.5m from BitMex Ventures and Blockwater. Another $6m raised from MEVP, Coinbase, Vision Ventures, CMT, Jimco and DIFC Fintech Fund
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Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat
Barbara J King, University of Chicago Press
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
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Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
