India may have little chance of qualifying for a berth in the FIFA World Cup anytime soon, but that's not to say that we don't have a fair share of football fans in the country. In fact, there's an enormous appetite for football in the country. An online survey recently reported that 50 percent of Indians claim to be football fans and plan to watch the World Cup this year.
Our very own tinseltown is not far behind either. Many Bollywood celebs are fanatic lovers of the sport, so much so that some couples will be fighting it out as they cheer for their favourite football teams and stars. In fact, with most couples supporting different teams and/ players, it is clear that the battle lines have been drawn now.
Hitlist gives you the lowdown on who's supporting whom this year...
Arshad Warsi and Maria Goretti
Both Arshad and Maria support Brazil and they will be seen sporting the Brazil jersey, but Maria's favourite player is Lionel Messi. Meanwhile, Arshad says that he is rooting for Brazil captain Thiago Silva. `I think girls support players who look cute but for me, it's all about talent on the field. I think Silva is the underdog, much like Dhoni. He is very calm and composed.`
Kabir Khan and Mini Mathur
Mini points out that while she keeps oscillating between Brazil and Argentina, her filmmaker husband is an ardent supporter of the latter. `I am a soccer mom because my son, Vivaan is soccer crazy and plays for his school team. He loves Brazil.` Interestingly, the family members have favourite players from the other team as well. `Vivaan and Kabir adore Neymar, who plays for Brazil, whereas my favourite player is Lionel Messi (Argentina).`
Teejay Sidhu and Karanvir Bohra
A hardcore Argentina fan, Karanvir is supporting Argentina and Lionel Messi is his favourite player. But wife Teejay is rooting for Uruguay and Diego Forlan. `Diego is my all-time favourite. I watched every match World Cup match the last time around because of him. For me, he's the player to watch out for. I'm only watching the World Cup matches for him,` says Teejay.
Sahil Sangha and Dia Mirza
They are always seen together at every event but when they sit down to watch World Cup matches this year, they will be rivals. So while Dia is an ardent Germany fan Sahil is supporting Brazil. `I will be sporting a Germany jersey; never mind whom he supports. There's going to be a war at home,` she jokes.
Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty
Shilpa is a hardcore Messi Fan and is rooting for Argentina while Raj Kundra is supporting England. `It's like home for me and my favourite player is John Terry,` says Kundra.
Chitrani and Bappi Lahiri
The music director recently composed a song to mark the World Cup season. Bappi da will be sporting Spain's jersey while wife Chitrani will be rooting for Brazil.
Erica Packard and Siddhant Kapoor
The actor, who is known for playing different character roles, is a big Messi fan and will be seen supporting Argentina. On the other hand, his model girlfriend, Erica Packard, is a Ronaldo fan and she will be supporting Portugal.
Shreyas and Dipti Talpade
Both Shreyas and Dipti Talpade are football fans. But while Dipti loves Neymar and wants the host country, Brazil, to take home the World Cup, Shreyas is rooting for Argentina and Messi.
