Lyari kicks its troubles aside as World Cup mania strikes

KARACHI: Visiting Lyari around this time when the FIFA World Cup is just round the corner is an experience. Football fever is on the rise. Walking down each lane and alley tells you a story about the community’s love for football. Ill-famed for turf wars and drug trafficking, Lyari is also known as ‘Mini Brazil’ because while the negatives divide the community, football unites it. The narrow winding alleys of Lyari permit the children and youth playing football here to give short passes mostly and become great dribblers of the ball. Their playing style resembles that of Brazilian players. Their looks resemble too and to enhance that particular feature you’ll find most youngsters sporting the hairstyles of their favourite Brazilian players. This reporter must have run into five or six Neymar look-alikes just because of the hair. With giant screens being installed and walls painted with flags, youngsters sport their favourite footballers’ hairstyles Still, over time, there has been some change in opinions. Abdul Waheed, a popular football coach and entrepreneur, said that earlier the people of Lyari had a favourite team, Brazil, which they all associated with. “But now, you’ll find the lovers of football here associating with particular players rather than teams. The fan following for a player is what brings them closer to the teams,” he said. “For example, the Neymar fans are drawn to Brazil, the Messi fans cheer for Argentina and the Ronaldo fans are all for Portugal,” he explained. “That’s how the craze for Brazil in Mini Brazil has dropped from 100 per cent to 80 per cent,” he added. The kids playing football at the Al Usmani Sports Academy, which include girls, are mostly Brazil fans. Ali Mohammad, Tanya Faisal, Umme Safa Abdul Majeed, Safa Shakeel and Sonia are all loyal Brazil fans but there are also Abdul Aziz and Saima who are willing to bet that Portugal will do better than Brazil in this World Cup. “What to say about Portugal, Brazil will lose its very firs