With seven days to go for the starting whistle, flex boards with quirky quotes have popped up across the football-crazed state.
A flex board erected by the Argentina football team fans in Kerala.
With just a week to go till the FIFA World Cup in Qatar kicks off, football frenzy is reaching a crescendo in Kerala. Fans of different teams are vying with each other in promoting their favourite sides and heroes.
Boisterous cut-outs, flex boards and banners that reflect the high-intensity sporting “rivalry” have popped up in every nook and corner of the state, often with messages taking a dig at rivals.
“Aaradhakare… Shantharakuvin (Dear fans… be calm),” a popular dialogue from the Malayalam movie, Thallumaala, starring Tovino Thomas, is widely used on flex boards that fans have set up to celebrate one of the planet’s greatest sporting events.
The World Cup has also ignited the creative spark in many minds, with quirky quotes finding space in the publicity material.
Earlier, a “cut-out war” involving the fans of three players had grabbed headlines both in India and abroad.
The cut-outs of Lionel Messi, Neymar Junior and Cristiano Ronaldo, with heights of 30 feet, 40 feet and 45 feet, respectively, had come up in the Kurungattu Kadavu River in Kozhikode’s Pullavoor village.
The cut-outs caught the attention of the international football governing body, FIFA.
It shared the image on its Twitter handle, saying, “#FIFAWorldCup fever has hit Kerala. Giant cutouts of Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi popped up on a local river ahead of the tournament. 12 days to go until #Qatar2022.”
“Most teams wear their football boots to create history, but when canaries wear it, it is to retain their legacy,” read a flex board a Brazil fan group has erected at Kuttippuram, in Malappuram district.
A flex board set up by the fans of Brazil’s football team in Kerala (Sourced).
The Brazilian players are often referred to as canaries, thanks to their yellow jerseys.
The Brazil fans’ “one-upmanship” did not go down well with the Argentina followers. They let their creative juices flow and came up with a counter.
“With the Commander of world football leading his men who are willing even to lay down their lives and a deft Guru drawing up the war plan, the undefeated Albiceleste Tsunami will take the golden crown from Qatar to Argentina,” their flex board read.
“The glitter from the golden crown will surely light up the nights enveloping the Argentinian streets,” they quipped, predicting “definite” celebrations in the South American country.
The Argentinian national team is also known as La Albiceleste.
Brazil has won the most number of football World Cups. The Brazil fans did not hesitate to declare that they would lift their sixth trophy this year.
“To Qatar that smells of athar (perfume), the canary army is coming to lift its sixth world cup,” a flex board rhymed.
Though the Portugal team has numerous fan groups in Kerala, most of their flex boards feature only the team captain, Cristiano Ronaldo.
A flex board by Argentina fans in Kerala (Sourced).
One such image of the flex board featuring Ronaldo shared by an Instagram handle, Portugal fans Kerala, turned philosophical: “Legends are those who don’t lose their charm even in difficult conditions. The Commander of the Portuguese army, the Prince of Madeira,” the board, which carried a picture of Ronaldo, said.
Ronaldo was born in Funchal, the capital of the Portuguese island of Madeira.
Incidentally, the Qatar World Cup is likely to see — and hear — a large number of Malayalis. The country has a significant population of Malayali expatriates, and several Keralites have already booked their tickets and packed their bags to attend the most significant football festival.
Additionally, big screens, too, are planned at several locations across the state, The Qatar World Cup will be one of the biggest celebrations in post-Covid-19 Kerala.
