Clash of the sport-titans?
With all big teams gone in quarter finals, this FIFA world cup has taken everyone by surprise.
It’s going to be a massive Sunday for sports fans with the much-awaited FIFA World Cup finale and the Wimbledon men’s final clashing with each other. The football WC will see France go head-to-head with underdogs Croatia and will commence at 8.30 pm IST, while the tennis battle will see Kevin Anderson fight it out with the winner of the Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic game. The first semi-final saw South African Kevin Anderson emerge victorious in the second-longest match in Wimbledon history by deafeating John Isner to reach the men’s final.
While the FIFA World Cup is more exhilarating for most sports buffs as it happens only once in four years; student Sumanth P is a tennis aficionado who is eagerly waiting for the Wimbledon final. “The first semi-final had Anderson and Isner fight it out for a whopping six hours and 35 minutes. With such a thrilling game, the duo sparked even more excitement among tennis followers, who are now waiting with bated breath for the grand finale. The other finalist will either be Nadal or Djokovic, so there’s no way I’m going to miss the Wimbledon finale,” he smiles.
Sports buff Arjun Mudelkadi, a hardcore footie follower is rooting for France. “I have been predicting their win this time so I call myself an Indian predicting cat like Paul the Octopus for getting it right so far! Although I am upset that none of the other good teams like Brazil nor Germany could make it to the finals, the match viewing itself would be a festival of sorts since my father in law is also a big fan,” says the staff engineer at ARM. As for the Wimbledon, Arjun admits to not having followed it closely since his favourite Roger Federer crashed out.
“The finals will only be one of the big two, Nadal or Djokovic – so it’ll be a sordid affair, although I do hope Kevin Anderson wins it – he was amazing against Federer,” he adds.
Engineer Vijay Raj is thrilled about the big Sunday. “What a wonderful day for sport excitement.
With all big teams gone in quarter finals, this FIFA world cup has taken everyone by surprise.
Neymar was a total entertainment, but disappointed at the end of the day. France is the best team with excellent defense and penetrative offence. But it will be nice if Croatia wins – it will be the victory of the underdogs.”
Adds Arjun, “Mbappe and Griezmann have both have been good. Although Croatia has a Liverpool player in Lovren and me being a Liverpool fan, somewhere I feel like rooting for them too!” So, which sporty affair are you gearing up for today?