Football fans in the southern hemisphere may still be in disbelief at the failure of the tournament favourites, Brazil and Argentina, in progressing to the final rounds of the World Cup. But spare a thought for the 147 million fans of football-crazy Bangladesh whose population, split evenly between support for Brazil and Argentina, have now been left bereft of a team to support. Interest in the tournament has consequently evaporated.

The unprecedented fervour generated by the support for the two teams saw the town of Aminzabar, west of Dhaka, split into two zones with rooftops adorned with the flags of the respective countries creating a sea of gold, white and blue. The blocs of fans competed for the attention of the 10,000 population by bribing people with offers of free biryani.

Such is the level of support that a near riot occurred outside the offices of the electricity board in Dhaka after frequent power outages disrupted the coverage of Argentina versus Serbia Montenegro. World Cup induced riots have included the formation of a human chain around the offices of the national television network, BTV, in order to demand increased coverage of the football tournament. “We also demand that the power officials do not cut the power during the matches so that everyone in the villages can live and breathe football,” said the President of the ‘Combined Sports Family’ group that organized the event. The warnings were obviously not heeded as 20 people, including policemen, were injured when football fans ran riot through Dhaka after a power failure during the Argentina-Germany quarter final. Argentina’s defeat was, therefore, viewed as a blessing by the stretched police force who were vastly unprepared for scences that were expected in the streets of Dortmund and not Dhaka. The power failed again during the match between the Netherlands and Ivory Coast and extra police were deployed Saturday to prevent further violence

Proving the old adage that football is more important than life and death, Mohammad Jahangir Alam, a Bangladeshi Argentina supporter suffered a heart attack after Argentina’s shock defeat to the host nation Germany. Watching the match on TV, the poor soul was upset at the defeat of Argentina and fell ill. He was rushed to a local clinic where the doctors declared him dead. 

The roots of Bangladesh’s love affair with the South American giants has been pinned to many factors: the lack of a good Bangladesh national team; the support for Argentina that comes from the continued popularity of Diego Maradona and the Bangladeshi media’s hyping up of the current Brazilian squad that has embossed the names of Ronaldinho and Kaka onto the national consciousness. A Bangladeshi football blog carries the quotes of a Jasim Uddin, a rickshaw puller, who states that he is a fan of Argentina and it’s because of Maradona, “I love him very much.” Now that both Brazil and Argentina have been knocked out of the tournament, interest has waned and attention has returned to Bangladesh’s forthcoming cricket one day internationals.  

The South Asian fascination with Brazil and Argentina extends to West Bengal and specifically the city of Kolkata where every gully in the city had an Argentina or Brazilian flag flying proudly in the air. West Bengal has the strongest tradition of football in the country and the region’s obsession with the sport was has been demonstrated by the preparations for the World Cup.

Unlike their Dhaka counterparts, the Calcutta Electricity Supply Corporation anticipated the extra electricity demand during the matches and readied additional generators. Kolkata’s Brazilian fascination is said to stem from the visit of Pele in 1977 to play a match organized in the city. Furthermore, the city’s sophisticated knowledge of the game has led to a natural admiration and attraction towards the artistic game played by the Brazilians. However, one popular theory doing the rounds inevitably brings up a colonial reason behind the largely inexplicable level of support behind the country. Amit Chowdhury, a writer based in the city was quoted as saying, “I support Brazil for emotional reasons. When it comes to whites playing non-whites, I can’t help but support the non-whites.” Brilliant logic when you think about it.

(Amit Burman is an alumnnus of Oxford, Columbia and works for the World Bank in Washington DC. As a result of his pretentious academic background, he is a tremendous snob. Yet he remains very down to earth, attached to his family/girlfriend/friends and maintains a fanatical devotion to Manchester United and the pursuit of the perfect put down line)

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