The World Cup starts. And the world will be talking, sleeping, and dreaming of football.
Even in conflict zones, there will be makeshift camps set up with a TV set to watch what people rightly call the biggest sporting spectacle in the world.
For football, life stops, but what we earnestly hope is that in the name of the game and the sporting extravaganza, the killing, maiming, bombing, and the repression also stop.
As the US president is doubling down on his desire for peace in the Middle East, one cannot but wonder if he is also keen to ensure that the tournament is not overshadowed by missile strikes and civilian deaths.
To be honest, the World Cup had taken place in turbulent times before.
Every time the memory of a previous tournament comes back, the images of local or global events, both positive and negative, resurface.
1978: A year of hope for Bangladesh football
Being just as old as Bangladesh, my memory about the World Cup goes back to 1978, when, as a seven year old, we saw the news about Argentina winning the Cup through black and white pictures in the newspaper.
Bangladesh back then was a very new country. She had been rocked by several political upheavals, military coups, and leftist insurrections in the first six years after independence, with the year 1978 bringing a semblance of stability.
With a feeling of balance and an able leadership came a grand football spectacle for a new nation: The 1978 Asian Youth Championship.
Under the shadow of the Word Cup, this youth tournament featured 18 teams, including the best of the continent.
Placed in group C, Bangladesh drew matches with Bahrain, Singapore, and beat North Yemen.
The fighting spirit of the youth team at that time brought young player Ashish Bhadra to the limelight, who later went on to be the captain of a formidable mid 80s national side.
There is of course a World Cup connection to this youth tournament held in Dhaka because the Kuwait team, which played as a youth side, supplied several key players who made the Kuwait national side that qualified for the World Cup in 1982.
Interestingly, Bangladesh lost to Kuwait 2-0: A match which, at that time, fuelled fiery speculation and conspiracy theories because those present at the stadium felt that Bangladesh had “deliberately” not played to their potential.
Be that as it may, the tournament brought the country under the spotlight and its resounding success later paved the way for the introduction of the President Gold Cup Football -- a prestigious tournament which Bangladesh won in another pivotal World Cup year, 1990.
1986: Slogans rocked the city and Maradona won hearts
This was the 15th year of the country and this writer was also becoming aware of the simmering discontent among the general populace over the autocratic rule of that time.
Socio-political intricacies dominating life. The zeitgeist became all too palpable. Protests on the streets intensified, crackdowns were commonplace, strikes became a part of life, and university session jams a reality.
The line “he is underground” meant a politically-active dissident in hiding and not an aficionado of some esoteric music movement.
World Cup 1986 would be a landmark for Bangladesh as well because that year, BTV, the state-owned television channel, showed live matches instead of recorded ones.
Four years earlier, in 1982, there were only a handful of live games, and most games were shown recorded, so this was certainly something to cherish.
Before the World Cup began, the sales of television sets went up, with middle-class families mostly buying black and white sets and those richer going for coloured ones.
The tournament provided a respite from the domestic political turbulence, with football lovers experiencing a festival with several stars.
Gary Lineker, Enzo Francescoli, Michel Platini, Emilio Butragueno, Careca, and Socrates shone for their sides, making the World Cup a true melange of footballing talent.
But eclipsing them all stood one diminutive dynamite: Maradona.
He was red carded in 1982 but came back with a vengeance, and a grand plan, in 1986.
This was also the World Cup which saw for the last time a combined team from the Soviet Union, with the trademark CCCP emblazoned on their shirts.
When Brazil was out after losing to France, all support veered towards the last remaining Latin side.
Argentina and Maradona won and thus triggered the Argentina mania in Bangladesh which has now become a part of footballing lore.
The Maradona cult spread like wildfire after the 1986 World Cup with his image of holding the cup adorning books, notebooks, t-shirts, posters etc.
The Maradona lollipop hit the market with the wrapper containing a Maradona image.
The World Cup year also marked a small landmark for Bangladesh football. In that year’s President Gold Cup Tournament, Bangladesh Red beat the Finnish club side Turun Palloseura, a first victory over a European side, by 3-1, with ace striker Aslam scoring a hat-trick.
1990: Fallen wall ignites renewed hope
In November 1989, the Berlin wall fell and with it, the iron curtain came crashing.
There was an air of liberty across the globe, which also hit the anti- autocratic movement in Bangladesh.
With the wind of change sweeping Europe, the World Cup was held amidst an air of optimism.
By this time, Maradona was the biggest footballing star, although the talk of Bangladesh was often not Argentina but Cameroon and their 38 year old striker Roger Milla.
Cameroon began with a massive upset, defeating Argentina by a solitary goal on 8 June 1990.
The indomitable lions went to proceed to the second round and, for the first time, a large number of football fans decided to support an African side.
Soon after the World Cup ended, Bangladesh also faced what many now deem the first people’s revolution in December, 1990.
The autocratic regime fell, the masses came out on the roads to celebrate, and along with a post-Cold War restructuring underway across the globe, Bangladesh was poised to take a new path towards democracy.
That year was also significant for Bangladesh football as the Bangladesh Red team became champions in the President Gold Cup tournament, beating a South Korean university selection side.
I was at the stadium when the team won against the Koreans on penalties and the memories are vivid.
We were all chanting ‘Allahu’ as the players took their respective shots and the stadium exploded as Selim, the Bangladesh goal- keeper, dived to save a shot.
On the way back, the streets were filled with people, chanting Bangladesh, waving flags, blocking roads -- perhaps the first time we came close to the inexplicable feeling of sporting jubilation.
Those scenes of ecstasy were replicated in 1997 when Bangladesh won the ICC cricket tournament, in 1999 when the cricket team won against Pakistan at the Cricket World Cup, in 2003 when the national side won the SAFF Football trophy in Dhaka, in 2010 when Bangladesh beat England at the Cricket World Cup in Chittagong.
This time, the World Cup is taking place with the world much more volatile than before and, as the games kick off, the prayer is that sense will prevail and, in the spirit of football, warring sides will decide to give precedence to dialogue over destruction.
Towheed Feroze is a former journalist.
