It’s a global, human phenomenon every four years.
When Football and politics collide.
And collide fiercely. 
Drunken taverns,
Village squares,
Operation theaters,
Office spaces,
Even at churches, temples and mosques everyone is whispering the same thing through droopy eyelids and foggy brains. 
" Did you see the match last night?”
And if you say NO, you are like a Palestinian in Tel Aviv. 
Everyone gives you a peculiar look, as if you are some brain dead zombie. 
Let us get one fact clear however…
The die hard, football aficionados, who worship the game, world over and who understand the nuances of the game watch everything,
English premier league,
Spanish Liga,
Italian league,
IFL,
Everything!
They are forever on the couch, usually Diabetic, prone to violent bouts of itching, consume very little water and watch football every single minute of their lives.
That is their passion.
That is their raison d'etre.
Their Life calling.
The rest of the vast multitudes that we belong to, wake up only once in four years.
And what keeps us animated, engaged, surging between wild swings of euphoria and depression is the football, yes, but more importantly the politics behind the game. 
This is World War 3 recurring every four years and we get to pick our side.
(Imagine if all the Bozos who were the progeny of Queen Victoria, Wilhelm, George, Nicholas were engaged in football in the early parts of the last century, all that needless, idiotic bloodshed of world war 1 could have safely been averted)
So, this is how the politics of Football unfolds for most of us.

😎 PORTUGAL : Forget the intricacies of the game, for most Goans it has to do with saudades. A sense of nostalgia.
Even Christiano, the heartthrob of millions, is more of a poster boy than a footballer. But then hey, you can convince your girlfriend to come watch the game with you. Right?

😎 ARGENTINA: Currently everyone's bete noire. 
Poor talented Messi is currently the global Left's favourite whipping boy.
In some bizarre twist of logic, he is identified with some deep seated, right wing global conspiracy.
Everyone from Trump, Meloni Infantilo (that is not a spelling mistake) are in cahoots to cheat everyone else, so that Messi the white man, wins.
You may call it the southern hemisphere version of MAGA.
Make Argentina Great Again.

😎 EGYPT
For many they were robbed of victory, cheated, swindled and all of it by Argentina and the pearly white referee.
It was a conspiracy by the imperialist cabal to destroy the Arab world and establish hegemony over the Pharaohs.
So unfair. 
In many extreme left brains Egypt is a metaphor for Gaza.
Victimized 
Victimized 
Victimized 
For Tutunkamen's sake, the stupid Egyptians could NOT defend a two-goal advantage. 
That was all in football parlance. 
But no conspiracy must win, not the Game.

😎 FRANCE: By far looked like the most solid team in the World Cup.
Mbappe was, is and will always be magnifique.
But then last night, when they played such sloppy football, the Spanish Conquistadors did them in.
Of course, a lot of folks backed and basked in L'equipe Francais because it reflected their deep belief that Black Lives Matter. 
So one can't blame them if they feel un peu bleu, henceforth. 

😎 ENGLAND : The forever champion in waiting. 
After lording over three quarters of the globe for over a century, to think they could win just one title, in 1966, must be quite a downer.
But maybe Hey Jude might see them over the finish line.
And perhaps it may take a boy of White Irish and Afro Jamaican descent to be the new Richard the Braveheart. 

😎 BRAZIL : You like carnivals. 
You like samba. 
You like attacking football. 
Betcha, you love Brazil.

So the story every four years will be about politics, the theater, the conspiracies and the current leadership.
Our pet peeves, likes and dislikes.
The science and art of football is always a distant second. 
But it's a good thing at the end of it. 
We get an opportunity to let off some steam every four years, and that is a good thing for everyone's political health.

POST SCRIPT
There is a Football cup happening late 26 early 27 in Goa.
Congress vs BJP
And some smaller teams in the fray 
( RG, like Cabo Verde, my favorite team, have sadly imploded, but at least Cabo Verde put up a historic, heroic fight).
Essentially Congress vs BJP however.
One can only hope the head coach of the congress Girish Didier Deschamps with that perennial, confused, bemused look about him, doesn't field a team that aggressively and deliberately score self goals to help BJP win 40-0 
But as in football as in Goan politics, one never ever knows.
The only certainty is you return to the field every 4-5 years to dissect the same, freaking charade that doesn't change your life one teeny weeny bit.
Like football, ( World Cup ) Goan politics is all spectacle, wonder, noise, cheering fans, booze, endless debates, fist fights, glitter and glamor. 
The only difference is Football lives and improves every four years.
Goa simply goes downhill, with more certainty to its ultimate demise.

OSCAR REBELLO
GOA