In the context of Bangladesh, very few people get the rare opportunity of seeing their favourite international football team in flesh. Even a less amount of fans receive the chance to witness a World Cup game. Furthermore, a paucity of people get to watch their favourite team as World Cup hosts.
Therefore, it was quite normal for Akbar Haider Munna to feel like he was on cloud nine as he will get to savour all the aforementioned dreams. A Brazil supporter since childhood, Munna will realise all his dreams as he is set to be present in three games in the impending Fifa World Cup with one of those three games featuring the hosts in their second outing against Mexico on June 17 in Fortaleza, Brazil. After 64 long years, Brazil once again got the chance to stage a World Cup and Munna will fully utilise the opportunity afforded to him.
Munna, who owns a non-professional football club, better known as an underground football club, Club 11, must consider himself as one of the luckiest ones having got the chance to watch the heavyweight encounter between defending champions Spain and last edition’s finalist the Netherlands in a Group B clash on June 13 in Salvador. The third and final game awaiting Munna is also another blockbuster game, three-time champions Germany taking on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in a Group G tie on June 16 in Salvador.
“As a Brazil fan, I could not reject the opportunity. It had always been my dream to watch a football match of Brazil but could not make it happen in the past due to financial reasons. This time, I have been planning it from last year. As it is a World Cup and will be held in Brazil, it is more than a dream to me,” said the lucky Brazil fan who will fly to London tomorrow before setting off to Rio de Janeiro the following day. While staying in Rio for 11 days, he will be joined by one of his friends from Thailand.
The football-lover started watching the beautiful game from 1986 and was one of the witnesses of probably the world’s greatest ever footballer Diego Armando Maradona lifting the World Cup for the Albiceleste. Besides, he stayed in Germany along with his family in 1982 and his father is a Germany fan but Munna, however, did not change his mind from supporting Brazil, “I love their (Brazil) passion for the game, their technique and the dribbling skills of their players. I just love the way they play.”
“I wished to attend all of Brazil’s matches. I bought my World Cup tickets through my uncle who lives in England and I also wanted to see one of England’s match. However, due to time strain as the Ramadan is near added with the humid temperature in Brazil, I cut short my plan,” said the 35-year old who is a director at Comfit Composite Knit Ltd, Patromax Refinery Ltd and Shajibazar Power Company Ltd.
