Soccer madness on in West Bengal ahead of Cup final

Kolkata, Jul 9 (UNI) Brazil may be out of contention, soccer madness continues unabated all over the state.

Day-long prayers are already on in Chandannagore in Hoogly district. It's here that the French had established their colony when they came to India.

A ''yagna'' has been organised today on the banks of the Hooghly to wish Zinedine Zidane a grand success and his teammates luck against the Italians.

Soccer madness is best visible in the city when Brazil wins, but even with them out, the euphoria has hardly subsided. The front pages of the local newspapers have nothing but soccer pasted all over.

Even events of national importance have taken a backseat.

But the Italians have their supporters too. A group of youngsters in Salt Lake have been supporting Italians from the beginning of the Cup and they are ecstatic.

One of them, Siddharth Dutta says, ''Just look at the team. It's the right mixture of youth and experience. With Luca Toni, Del Piero and Totti hitting form, they just cannot lose.'' Neelanjan adds, ''Zidane is a magician. But Pirlo has his charms and so does Gattuso. Just see the clash. There is little difference between the two. But with agfing Fabio Barthes being their last line of defence, Italy does have a chance. And on the other half is Buffon. He is just unbeatable.'' When sentimental favourites Brazil and Argentina out of the Cup, many felt local interest would dissipate.

But authorities of city schools discovered an unprecedented viewership during the two semifinals featuring an all-European line-up. Absenteeism has risen to an unprecedented high and attentiveness have taken a beating.

While some have decided to declare Monday a holiday to ensure that students get adequate time to recover from the high-decibel clash, others have postponed the start of school by a couple of hours. St Joseph's College was among the first to declare a holiday.

UNI BA JYN AY RS1917