As favourites fail, city roots for England

Spirited performances from less-fancied teams have captured hearts all over as the likes of traditional heavyweights such as Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Spain have all been eliminated without reaching the semi-finals – for the first time in history. 

While most of the city, going per social media posts and crowds at screenings, seem to have been rooting for the likes of Brazil and Argentina earlier (Neymar and Messi fans, much?) now it is Gareth Southgate’s England team that has emerged as a fan favourite. 

Though France and Belgium have more formidable squads, it seems like the strong Premier League fandom that the city enjoys (most of the English clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, etc have city-based fan organisations) has evoked them to support Harry Kane and his boys all the way to the final in what would be a classic underdog tale. 

“It’s all because of David Beckham, that most of us are England fans. We have faced years of disappointing experiences even with players like Rooney, Scholes, Gerrard and so on. We were playing well in 2010, but Lampard’s perfect goal against Germany was disallowed and the team lost – the memory still gives me nightmares. But we kept believing that one day the fortunes would change, and it has,” saidbusiness owner Karthik Rajagopalan, a die-hard Three Lions fan. 

‘Football’s Coming Home’, the football anthem for the team, has become an instant hit, with the song even being played at a few cafés and pubs in the city after England’s resounding quarterfinal win against Sweden. G Ramasesshan, who works at Ernst and Young, even took an England flag to celebrate with his friends to the screenings. 

“I’m a massive fan, and its tradition for us to don our white jerseys and celebrate,” he said. M Aditi, a dentist who supported Argentina, said she now wants England to win. “After my team dropped out, I was upset. But the England team are so young and full of joyful banter that it’s hard to begrudge their success. I hope they go all the way!”