Football lovers in Kochi mourned and mocked the defeat of Brazil in the World Cup football semi-final on Wednesday.
With the tournament favourites and the hosts enduring their heaviest loss, diehard fans of the most celebrated team are hanging their head in shame. Concurrently, Malayali netizens went on an overdrive ever since the decisive first half of the game got over when Brazil trailed by five goals, filling up social media with sarcastic comments, euphemistic statements, parodies, slogans and abusive jokes.
Punch dialogues from yesteryear super hits like Sandesham and Kireedam were tweaked to suit the context, adding to the hilarity. Sankarady’s hilarious take on his party’s poll debacle in Sandesham trended on Facebook as the Brazilian take on their own defeat. Another joke has it that Neymar profusely thanked the Colombian player, who was instrumental in injuring and keeping him out of the fatal game.
Referring to the reported offer of ayurvedic treatment for Neymar in Kerala, another social media junkie said the offer of ‘ ennathony care’ has now been extended to the entire team.
Joining the crowd to take potshots at the Brazilians was noted writer N.S. Madhavan, author of the critically acclaimed story Higuita, who tweeted that Brazilain coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, is in hiding at Kannur in Kerala.
Vyshakh Sasidharan, a 19-year-old college student from the city, who had painted his bike in Brazilian colours, doesn’t know how to justify his act. He is now pinning his hopes on another South American giant, Argentina, to lift the cup. But the bike will continue to don the canary colours nevertheless.
“Despite Neymar’s exit owing to injury, nobody expected such a crushing defeat for Brazil. This shows fans should be careful while selecting their teams of support,” said an anguished Salim Kumar T.P., a Central government official and avid football enthusiast.
The humiliation among the team’s fans was visible in the sport shops where the trade mark yellow-green paraphernalia suddenly vanished from their shelves. “Till Tuesday, the jersey carrying the name of Brazilian super striker Neymar was selling like hotcakes. Had Brazil won the match, it would have been different ball game but for now, it’s a loss for us,” said a vendor from Broadway street.
The morning after the defeat, Kochi also saw all new billboards pooh-poohing the below par performance of Brazil. A figurative wreath was laid on a pro-Brazil hoarding by German fans on Wednesday.
