It keeps your eyeballs rolling!

SWAMI VIVEKNAND’s quote—““ It would be better to play football than read the Gita… you will definitely win the world by kicking the ball up high in the sky. The higher the kick, the higher you rise.”

This is also the belief of the Arjuna Awardee athlete Vijay Singh Chauhan, who doesn’t want to favour any particular team in the FIFA World Cup, beginning Friday at Germany. But, claims that right attempts and moves will help a team win the coveted trophy this year.

“Obviously Brazil and host Germany are favourites to win the cup this time, but predicting the victory of any team with confidence is foolish thing for me,” says Chauhan, better known as Iron Man of Asia for his still unbroken record in decathlon, which he had established during the 1972 Munich Asian Games.
“The competition at the world level is so high and tough, where every team look better than the others. So making a predictions would be quite unfair.”

“The game of football not only enhances our IQ and team spirit, but also sharpens the reflections of a player and reminds him about the punctuality to achieve the goal,” said 56-year-old Chauhan, who also happens to be the joint director, sports, Uttar Pradesh.

He also confessed that despite being an athlete he has got special love for the game of soccer. “The world soccer is so fast and even an European league match keeps you entertaining. In cricket, one can afford to miss a few moments of the game, but it doesn’t happen in soccer, which doesn’t permit you even to blink your eyes.”

Besides Brazil and Germany, the veteran sports man feels that teams like Argentina, Italy, and England etc., are also expected to do well at Germany.

“Most of the teams have young players with full of energy, and I feel that this year’s World Cup will see some fierce battle even by some unknown teams also.”

“During the last two-three years the standard of Indian football has also gone up, but it’s quite pathetic that still we are out of top 100 teams ranking. We should make some collective approach to uplift the standard of football in the city as well as in the State and country,” said Chauhan.