Be it family, friends or strangers, whomever I talked to in India seemed to know that I live in Germany and have something to do professionally with football. The first question was always: “You here? But you should be in Germany now!”

Interest and passion

It was good to see the passion and interest of the people in the game. That Calcutta loves its football was known to me, but what did surprise me was the big interest the people in Mumbai take in football nowadays. They seemed to follow the top European leagues and where eagerly waiting for the World Cup to start. All had their favourites, be it Brazil, Argentina, Germany or England. I found that especially England has many fans in Mumbai, who follow the English Premier League week for week.

In Calcutta it was somewhat different. Brazil and Argentina were the most favoured sides and nearly everyone said that Brazil would win the World Cup this summer. I myself had my option on this. I have always supported Germany and India when it comes to football, so perhaps it was no surprise that I said I’d support Germany. And I also told people that in my opinion. Germany had good chances of pulling it off with the home advantage and a past history of focusing at the right time and the right moment when a tournament starts. Brazil surely are the pre-tournament favourites but there are a handful of other contenders like Germany, Italy, Argentina, England and France. And surely there would be the one or the other upset.

On the road

If one walks or drives through Mumbai one gets the feeling that the World Cup is around the corner. Lots of ads and billboards about the World Cup have been put up across the city. It sometimes feels as if India herself is playing in the World Cup. Ads to buy new TV’s or watch the World Cup on your mobile, win free tickets, flights to Germany et cetera. You can see it all on the skyline of Mumbai.

On the mind

You can’t see anywhere near as many ads and billboards about the World Cup in Kolkata, but you can hear people heatedly discussing the World Cup.

Bengalis are passionate about football and they’re equally passionate about debate. Some people made it sound as if Brazil had already won the World Cup and the rest might as well pack up and go home. Others were more curious to find out what the state of preparations were like in Germany and also get my opinion on the team’s chances.

But all had one in common. They were waiting for the World Cup to begin.