7 Stages of Hell

There are 7 stages of emotions when handling a disaster

1. Anxious
2. Angry
3. Confused
4. Shocked
5. humiliated
6. Numbed
7. Buried & withdrawn

Stage 1 to 3 is where there is still hope and the fighting instincts are still kicking in.
After Stage 4, its all about the feeling of living dead.

There is a fog covering the thought process & in Stage 7. How & what in the hell happened here?

Did we not read it correctly ? Was it a trust mis-placed ?

7-1

Still searching for words and superlatives. Nearest sporting event on similar proportions was when India did similar suicide by choking in 1996 Cricket world Cup at Kolkata

How in the holy world can a team in the World Cup Semi final gets so horrendous ?
That too it was Brazil.

South American country has its own charm - the land, the people, the beauties and then there is Jogo Bonito (or rather 'was'). What a glorious generation of football magicians they had - Pele, Zico,Ronaldo..Growing up in football fields, its very easy to fall in love with the kind of football played by Brazil.

This time it was Seleçao playing in their own backyard. Oh! And then there was a star stud with innovative hair styles and even better skills on ground.What better setup than hosting & winning the world cup.

Early signs of laboring through the group & knockout stages was waived off assuming team will pick steam for the final two games. Wasn't the Seleçao playing to bury the 1950 ghosts of Maracana ?

Then things started falling in wrong places..the lone warrior Neymar went out with broken vertebra, the captain commited harakiri in most stupid reasons and they were suddenly in front of a well-oiled machinery called Germany.

Those 29 minutes in first half..that killing scoreline
These will haunt forever the team, fans in the stadium and fans watching elsewhere.

It was not about getting defeated. Winning & losing is part of every game. Least expected from such a team on this level of game is a contest - a fighting spirit. A well fought defeat doesn't induce so much pain.

Is it a case of team deflated-crushed under-expectations ? Is that team didn't have any backbone after their man with backbone was out? Or was it simply that Germany were ruthless-professional, grabbing & hobbling like a hungry man on a buffet ?

Don't know..and the analysis and explanations will run for years to come.

But the pain and stages of emotions the fans went through is beyond comprehension.

What better way to erase an bad dream then by creating a brand new disastrous nightmare..

It will take lots of time and faith to come out of this..

And to the people of Brazil...Tears 

To the football player...

When rest of the world is still sleeping & having sweet dreams, you will be already warming up in the ground.

When your friends are busy planning out some fun things to do, you will be busy kicking the ball in between the posts.

Your life is between the two goal posts.

Corners, free-kicks, penalty & injuries are not just words for you. These are living-breathing friends that run with you always.Some of them excite you & some of them you don't want to meet again.

Its just not a ball for you..
Its your canvas to create something magical..

It takes 11 souls like you to stir a nation.

Because of you, finally 32 valiant countries stand apart. Reaching this stage is an accomplishment by itself.

You have brought your country to the greatest sporting event. Sometimes a simple joy is when rest of the world comes to know that there is a country by that name on the globe.

You not only represent yourself but the millions of people from your country. You are the symbol of their aspirations, struggles & opportunities.

Each time you send the ball soaring through the posts, you just assure everything is going to be all right.

Each time you make some magical moves on the field, you inject small dose of belief to the otherwise cynical world.

As it progresses, you see some of the teams start packing up to go back home. It comes to do or die..

It is a test of skills, nerves & more than anything, its a test of beliefs..

And then there will be 'the' team..reaching the pinnacle of the game.
You may be part of it...

Or you may have agonizingly came close to it.
You had battled temptations, hardships & those dreaded injuries..
But this one..it was so near yet so far..that sure will haunt for a while.

But you won't be judged for that.

You will be remembered for all those enthralling minutes you gave yourself on the ground, for all those passes you made, for all those shots, for all those saves you made..

You will be remembered as epitome of skills & powers who gave everything..

Thanks for giving something to cheer about.

This beautiful game is beautiful because of you !

- A Football Fan Forever