India Gets Into Football Mood Ahead Of World Cup
India looking to lift the Intercontinental Cup on Sunday.
There’s less than a week to go for the start of the biggest event of the footballing calendar—the World Cup 2018. Hosts Russia will kick things off on Thursday, and though India’s not among the 32 teams playing in Russia, millions of fans will be glued to their televisions or mobile devices, tracking their heroes as they take to the pitch.
But there’s some football action lined up today in India. Sunil Chhetri will lead the Indian team in the Intercontinental Cup final against Kenya later this evening, in Mumbai. This tournament got unprecedented attention after Chhetri made an impassioned appeal to football fans earlier in the week.
Chhetri’s men will be quietly confident. After all, they’ve already beaten this Kenya team 3-0. It was Chhetri’s 100th appearance for the national team and he made it a special one with a cool brace. It was also special because of the tides of fans who answered his call to arms the weekend before and cheered raucously from the stands in Mumbai.
BloombergQuint spoke to two professional Indian footballers, who ply their trade in the Indian Super League to find out who they’re rooting for in the World Cup this year, and also whether the winds of change are finally blowing in India’s footballing landscape.