Russia 2018 wouldn’t be WC without beer

For many, the Fifa World Cup is the 64 soccer matches across a month beamed all over the world in the quadrennial competition to determine the champion of the world.

For others, it is one month of nirvana where football tourists let loose and partake in the ‘celebration of humanity’, as former Fifa President Sepp Blatter used to call it.

But for most, it is an excuse to enjoy beer. The World Cup is reason to drink. “I do not drink,” said Saber Moustapha, a Tunisian mid-aged man who flew in from Tunis to support his team, after watching his country get rolled over by Belgium. “My religion also does not allow me to but today I tasted beer for the first time and will also drink for our final group game against Panama because this is the World Cup.”

Cases like Moustapha’s are an exception. Budweiser, the official beer partners of the World Cup, are particularly making a killing among fans from North America and Europe, the continents enjoying the biggest number of fans in Russia.
The only beer sold at stadiums is Budweiser just as Coca-Cola is the only soft drink you will access before and during matches.

From 20 minutes to full time and onwards, there are no drinks sold. The directive is intended to allow for smooth exit of fans for there would be inevitable anarchy in the excitement of triumphant fans trying to get themselves a frothy one to celebrate victory inside or around the ground.

It is not uncommon before games or during halftime to see fans carrying five Budweiser Cups of beer on a Cup holder. More often than not, the most tipsy and flat-out drunk fans are the most vocal when chanting songs from the stands. The more drunk they are, the more vocal. And the more vocal they are, the more creative they become whether booing a referee’s decision or opposing player.

A pint of Budweiser is being sold at 350 roubles (Shs21,500) while a bottle of coke is 200 roubles (Shs12,300).
Predictably the stalls of beer have witnessed far less traffic at games involving Saudi Arabia, Iran, Tunisia and Egypt. There reverse has been true at games such as Germany vs Mexico, Argentina vs Croatia and Brazil vs Costa Rica. Win or lose, World Cup fans will consume Budweiser. It is a tradition that will stretch to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

WORLD CUP TITBITS

Messi everywhere
He may be making headlines for his no-show so far after two rounds of games but five-time Fifa Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi has not lost an inch of his star power. His brand is visible all over Moscow seeing how he is a face of many brands.
The Argentina talisman, the world’s highest earning footballer of 2017, is together with his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo the world’s highest earning footballer. His face is on billboards and electronic boards, but you suspect he would probably swap all those for a place in the next round of the tournament. Argentina will learn their fate tomorrow night at 9pm when they play Nigeria’s Super Eagles.

Beggars
The culture of begging is not new to any major city in the world. London, Paris, Madrid, New York and Rio de Janeiro all have beggars and Moscow is not different. Except that the beggars I have encountered here are not the type sitting somewhere along a road or street with a dish or plate of coins in front of them, hoping to receive from good Samaritans and tourists. The ones here walk around and generally look good, but are also brave enough to ask you for a few coins of roubles. Even with the obvious language barrier, it is not a challenge for them to put across their point of requesting for money either through sign language or elementary English.

Stadium countdown
For every World Cup match in Russia, organisers have put in place a countdown theme to kick-off that has rubbed fans the right way. Whether in Samara, Kazan, Sochi or Rostov-on-Don, fans in the stadium join in on the stadium announcer to shout the countdown seconds to 0 from 10. The countdown is beamed on the pair of giants screens on the stadium and on reaching 0, the referee gets the game underway. That act has been successful in getting fans feel like they are involved in the proceedings, which they are anyway. It is a wonderful development that has no doubt bettered the tournament. It was not there in South Africa and Brazil, hosts of the last two editions.

Belgium so much like Uganda
In my yellow Uganda Cranes jersey on Saturday afternoon, I looked every inch a Belgium fan during their game against Tunisia. Belgium’s colours look like Uganda’s and their national flag can easily be mistaken for that of the Pearl of Africa.
Their kit has black, yellow and red, the three colours in the Ugandan national flag. Regardless of whether you wear the authentic or fake black, yellow and red kit of the Uganda Cranes, there is something trypically Belgian in those colours. As I alighted at Yugo-Zapadaya station on return from the match, a drunk Belgian fan mentioned that I looked so much like Romelu Lukaku. I took it as a compliment.

Compiled by Mark Namanya

*The writer is Monitor Publications’ Sports Editor