The nail biting finish of football; Hima Das’s gold hunt

Vartha Bharati | 17-07-2018 | 10:11:00 IST

France emerged as the champion of world football. The next four years, France will live with this title and fame. The football fever that had taken over the whole world will now gradually reduce. This fever does not make one ill, but fills the onlooker with some excitement. This ultimate sport fills everyone with joy.

France, the veterans team, never lost a single match in this tourney. Their last match with Croatia was a very planned and well executed one. That beautiful game has caught everyone’s fancy. This victory is as much of the team members, as it is of the French coach Didier Deschamps.

Deschamps had made a strategy that at the onset of match beginning, the opposite team has to be controlled and then the team position has to be reestablished, and finally the team has to play consolidated and well-planned game. France players played by this strategy to the last word.

Hence, when the first half of the match was over, though the ball was with Croatia, France had achieved 2-1. Croatia didn’t lose sight with that score, they played well and played hard. But in the second half, France added two more goals to the score and Croatia could add only one. Though the curtains came down on the tourney in Russia, this excitement has started in France and will live on for a few more months. People are gathering in thousands to celebrate this victory. Though Croatia missed its world cup with a few goals, the country is excited all the same since the very fact that they reached finals itself was a massive feat.

All over the world, people were rooting for Croatia and the players caught fancy of fans with their skill, speed, technique and swiftness.

Many champion teams had been reduced to dust in this tourney. Many champion players had lost their charm and game too. On the other hand, unexpected heroes such as Belgium, and Croatia had reached Semi-Final and Finals, challenging big teams such as France and England. The new stars that are born now are known by the names such as Neymar, Lukaku, Baptie, Kane, Griezmann among the others.

The World Cup Tourney is like a field infested with landmines. A ball that sails though and moves swiftly from one leg to another, is like a live bomb. Every time it launches itself towards the Goal Keeper like a missile, and this can cause massive palpitations to people. And for another such event, one has to wait for another four years. This year, except for the fact that India didn’t have its team here, the country quite enjoyed the game to the hilt. Why India has not been able to create a team of its own in football is a question that needs to be debated on. The time is now ripe to think of a game played on the field, such as football.

In this melee, a girl from the fields of paddy in Assam quietly created a record without much fanfare. The whole world is now looking at her with great interest. Hima won a gold medal in under 20 category of 400 mts track event in IAF World Athletics Championship. When Hima Das bagged the medal, it was the first ever Gold for Indian in a track race. Hima is not a result of some high end training in city.

Instead, she was born as a daughter of paddy farmer in Assam. She took to football initially and was recognized by a very committed football coach. As a result of his identification and forcing her to move to better facilities, India today is taking pride in its daughter for having won gold. Today we are looking for talents in cities, but instead of this, boys and girls from rural areas are quietly making inroads into these sports events. We need to hone skills of rural talents with great urgency. Hima Das’s achievement is that massive.    

At the same time, instead of celebrating Hima’s rare feat, Indian Athletics Federation tweeted about her not-so-fluent english. This tweet shows the subordination to English by sports authorities. This is a big indicator for the kind of attitude Federation has about rural candidates. One can easily understand why India is lagging behind in Olympics. Our priorities are all wrong.   

A country like Croatia is now achieving great feats in football, globally. Small countries like Cuba are making great strides in Olympics. English is a language that’s largely alien to them. Those officers who are carrying the ego of English on their heads need to be kicked out from Indian Athletics Federation. The task of encouraging rural sports must begin from that point.

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