BENGALURU: Since 2018, football fans across the globe have been waiting for 2022 for one reason and one reason only: FIFA World Cup. Happening in Qatar, this is the first time the second-largest sporting event in the world (after the Summer Olympics) is being held in the middle east.
Just like the football-loving cities in the rest of the world, Bengaluru is gearing up for this highly coveted championship as well, which is starting on November 20.
Miten Shah, the co-founder of The Studs Sports Bar + Grill, feels the FIFA World Cup has always been a big-ticket event for Studs. “This tournament comes every four years and it does bring a lot of excitement for everybody. All the crazy football fans of the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League turn up together.
All fans of the EPL and other league teams, whose players are playing in the world cup, gather together for a screening party. The bar is specially packed when during matches of big teams Brazil, Germany or England,” says Shah.
Shah mentions that Studs makes sure that they provide an unparalleled experience for the fans during the world cup. “We have arranged a special cocktail menu specifically designed around the FIFA World Cup, which is named around the competing teams, like Spicy Spain for example. We are also curating a special food menu as well having items like chicken sliders, fish and chips and french fries,” shares Shah adding that for each match, the DJ at the sports bar will play the competing countries’ music.
Rajesh Menon, VP & head of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), who also runs the RCB Bar & Cafe, expect to see a big turnout once the World Cup commences.
“At RCB Bar & Cafe, we have a program called ‘Game Nights’ as a part of our regular programming calendar. Our Game Nights live screen major games from different kinds of sports year-round. We will be screening all the FIFA World Cup matches this year as well. Our Game Nights are incredibly popular given the growing sports culture in the city, and we often get booked out in advance. Since international football has always had a large fan following, the world cup is something a lot of people are looking forward to and we expect to see large turnouts,” says Menon.
The hype is not just limited to sports bars and pubs, football coaches and players are also looking to see some of the best in the sport on the biggest footballing stage. Tony Louis Robert, who works as a football coach for the under-9 and under-11 teams at Bangalore United FC, says the young players are stoked to see their favourite footballers play the upcoming world cup.
“The younger kids are very excited to watch superstars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. A lot of these children are actually rooting for Brazil because of Neymar. He’s the top dribbler in the world right now and all the youngsters love to dribble. We are all gonna watch the big matches like the semi-finals and final together,” says Robert for whom the 2006 World Cup finale between France and Italy, which is also known for Zinedine Zidane’s infamous headbutt, was the most memorable match.
Football player and Karnataka state referee Rajesh Paterson is also rooting for Brazil but feels one can’t be sure which team might win. “I always support Brazil during each World Cup. But this is the World Cup we’re talking about so I can’t put a pin on a particular team winning. Anything can happen. I will be watching all the matches of Argentina and Portugal as well because Messi has already announced this will be his last World Cup and it can be the same for Ronaldo as well,” says Paterson.