Soccer mania is here, but kids’ Cup is full of hard luck

KOLKATA: Reopening of schools after summer vacation and exams breathing down their neck have turned the most-awaited time for young soccer fans into a killjoy moment.
Most city schools have either opened this week or are likely to open next week, coinciding with start of the Fifa World Cup, marring the excitement and anticipation of teenage football fans in the city.“I just wished the tournament started a month earlier. We had the entire month of vacation. But now, just as the school reopens, the World Cup is kicking off. To make things worse, we will have our exam starting early next month. That will make it even difficult for us to catch all the matches live,” said Archit Laha, a Class VIII student of DPS Ruby Park.

The World Cup is scheduled to start from June 14 and will continue till July 15. The group league matches are mostly scheduled at 5.30pm, 8.30pm and 11.30pm while a few games are even slated for a 3.30pm start. The knockout matches are scheduled for a 7.30pm and 11.30pm start.
“Immediately after the school reopens next Monday, we will have our exams from the second week of July. Even if we watch a few group league matches, we will miss out almost the entire knock-out stage,” said Class VIII student Soham Sen.
While World Cup has always been associated with a midnight schedule, this year the timings are surprisingly pleasant for an average football fan in India. However, it is not the same with students who have their tuitions lined up in the evening.
“Although my father is extremely happy with the timing, I am not. Almost every evening I have one tuition class or the other. How am I supposed to catch the action? Thankfully, Brazil’s first match against Switzerland will start at 11.30pm and I can watch that in peace. For the rest, I will have to wait for the highlights,” said Rishwav Mondal, a Class XI student of Better High School.
Rishwav’s friend Uddipto, however, is ready to bunk his tuitions to catch his favourite team, Brazil, in action. “Brazil has two of its group league matches at 11.30pm. But the game against Costa Rica will start at 5.30pm. I have made up my mind to skip the tuition that evening and watch the game. I will try to convince my parents and ask the teacher to hold the class on some other evening. But if nothing works out, I don’t have any other option but to skip the class,” said Biswas, a Class XI student of Birla Bharati School, which will resume classes from this Thursday, the opening day of the World Cup.