Welcome back to Omnikarma. First, some basic health warnings:
And my footy friends, our time has come !! (Balaji Ramanujam, Ranjit Warrier, Faye Michael, Natasha Didee, Frederic Weber, Mathew Jacob, Ramesh Macca Babu, Subodh Balakrishnan, George Abraham, Nikhil Sebastian, Amit Walinjkar, Shireesh Joshi, Manoj Menon.....). The 30 day spectacle that comes once every 4 years around the corner. I hope you have taken your annual vacations to watch this special spectacle.
And to people who don't know me very well - A little bit of history about my footy fetish - (Vijay Santhanam - you can partly vouch for this). I started watching World Cup football in 1986. Collectively, I think I have watched more than 50% of those World Cup games - mostly on TV. Each World Cup, I support (and quite boldly make a prediction) one team that I think may win the trophy. But as mentioned previously, I have got it right only twice - 1990 (Germany) and 2010 (Spain). Despite this terrible losing streak, the one that hurt me the most was the 1986 version. My favourite team - the Germans had a fantastic streak making it to the finals against Maradona's (Hand of God) Argentina. I was in 9th grade and the rest of my class was firmly behind the South Americans (especially given the fantastic Maradona). Even the rest of my football fanatic family was behind Argentina. After a thrilling 2-2 going into the 82nd minute, Jorge Burruchaga scored from a fine pass from who else - Maradona. You can relive the magic on the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZrdMQKo4Zw
I walked into school the next day, sleepy eyed and I can still remember being booed by my entire class. Oh ! how can one forget that day. The wonderful feeling of being on the right side of 'Bragging rights' - oh what a sweet feeling ! - certainly not on that summer morning in 1986.
The years have gone by. But the excitement of the month before World Cup is always a special one. But this year it is going to be different. I will be in Brazil from July 4-10 and will be in the stadia to watch two special games - the QF on July 5 at Salvador and SF on July 9 in Sao Paulo. So expect some special on the ground coverage from Yours Truly.
So who will win the World Cup. Which player (s) will have the distinction of the treble (WC, Champions League and Domestic League winner).
For one, it is going to be one helluva close contest. The bookies are confused as well. Brazil is odds on favourite to lift the trophy on June 13. Spain, Argentina and Germany close behind. My prediction is a Brazil Germany final, although would prefer a Brazil Argentina clash at the Maracena. But as always, I will be supporting 2 other teams - England and Belgium (the latter along with Uruguay being the dark horses). If you like betting, then highly recommend a wager on Belgium, Portugal, England, Uruguay or France reaching the Semis.... odds below :)
http://sports.williamhill.com/bet/en-gb/betting/e/5335765/World-Cup-2014---To-Reach-the-Semi-Finals.html
And who might win the treble - Diego Costa and David Villa maybe?
Coming next on this channel: The 5 critical games and How to bet your way to Rio
- For the next 45 days, this blog will focus only on football, mostly the World Cup variety. If you prefer to read about George Clooney or Spa holidays, then now is a good time to switch to Google search.
- Only twice in the last 28 years, have I got my predictions right. So please don't sue me if you place high stakes based on my amateur opinions.
- I am not a betting man, but love to follow betting sites to improve accuracy of my predictions. So current or future employers should not get too concerned with strong references to William Hill or Skybet.
- And finally, football falls somewhere between my top priorities - family, Belgian beer, biryani, photography, marketing and wine tours. You decide where football falls in the pecking order.
- If you erase me of your Facebook friend list, I will not mind (neither will I notice). :)
And my footy friends, our time has come !! (Balaji Ramanujam, Ranjit Warrier, Faye Michael, Natasha Didee, Frederic Weber, Mathew Jacob, Ramesh Macca Babu, Subodh Balakrishnan, George Abraham, Nikhil Sebastian, Amit Walinjkar, Shireesh Joshi, Manoj Menon.....). The 30 day spectacle that comes once every 4 years around the corner. I hope you have taken your annual vacations to watch this special spectacle.
And to people who don't know me very well - A little bit of history about my footy fetish - (Vijay Santhanam - you can partly vouch for this). I started watching World Cup football in 1986. Collectively, I think I have watched more than 50% of those World Cup games - mostly on TV. Each World Cup, I support (and quite boldly make a prediction) one team that I think may win the trophy. But as mentioned previously, I have got it right only twice - 1990 (Germany) and 2010 (Spain). Despite this terrible losing streak, the one that hurt me the most was the 1986 version. My favourite team - the Germans had a fantastic streak making it to the finals against Maradona's (Hand of God) Argentina. I was in 9th grade and the rest of my class was firmly behind the South Americans (especially given the fantastic Maradona). Even the rest of my football fanatic family was behind Argentina. After a thrilling 2-2 going into the 82nd minute, Jorge Burruchaga scored from a fine pass from who else - Maradona. You can relive the magic on the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZrdMQKo4Zw
I walked into school the next day, sleepy eyed and I can still remember being booed by my entire class. Oh ! how can one forget that day. The wonderful feeling of being on the right side of 'Bragging rights' - oh what a sweet feeling ! - certainly not on that summer morning in 1986.
The years have gone by. But the excitement of the month before World Cup is always a special one. But this year it is going to be different. I will be in Brazil from July 4-10 and will be in the stadia to watch two special games - the QF on July 5 at Salvador and SF on July 9 in Sao Paulo. So expect some special on the ground coverage from Yours Truly.
So who will win the World Cup. Which player (s) will have the distinction of the treble (WC, Champions League and Domestic League winner).
For one, it is going to be one helluva close contest. The bookies are confused as well. Brazil is odds on favourite to lift the trophy on June 13. Spain, Argentina and Germany close behind. My prediction is a Brazil Germany final, although would prefer a Brazil Argentina clash at the Maracena. But as always, I will be supporting 2 other teams - England and Belgium (the latter along with Uruguay being the dark horses). If you like betting, then highly recommend a wager on Belgium, Portugal, England, Uruguay or France reaching the Semis.... odds below :)
http://sports.williamhill.com/bet/en-gb/betting/e/5335765/World-Cup-2014---To-Reach-the-Semi-Finals.html
And who might win the treble - Diego Costa and David Villa maybe?
Coming next on this channel: The 5 critical games and How to bet your way to Rio
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