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World Cup Makes Dreaming Possible Melvin Durai Melvin Durai is an Indiana-based writer and humorist. Born in Tamil Nadu, India, he grew up in Zambia and moved to the U.S. in the early 1980s. In 1995, while working as a reporter for a daily newspaper in Chambersburg, Pa., he began writing a regular humor column. His weekly column now appears in several newspapers and on a number of Web sites. He also writes a twice-monthly column on Indian and Indian-American issues. He is a diehard fan of the National Football League and also likes to run, lift weights and play soccer, tennis and pool. An award-winning feature writer and aspiring novelist, he plans to publish a collection of his best columns. You can write to him at comments@melvindurai.com To read his older columns, go to http://www.melvindurai.com

South Korea's success in the 2002 FIFA World Cup has got me dreaming. I can hear a television announcer's booming voice: "Gupta crosses the ball, Singh takes a shot and ... GOAL! GOAL! India has won the 2006 World Cup, upsetting Brazil 1-0 in overtime. The South Americans are stunned. They're staring into the sky, wondering how they lost to a country where cricket is the number one sport and soccer is number 17, just behind carom board and kabaddi."

A Star TV reporter covers the celebration in Delhi: "I've never seen anything like this. Everyone is dancing in the streets. Muslims are kissing Hindus, Brahmins are kissing Dalits, someone even kissed a lawyer. I've also heard rumors that the Prime Minister kissed Sonia Gandhi. The Sports Minister has announced that the victorious soccer players will be rewarded with new jobs in the transportation industry. Yes, each of them will receive an auto rickshaw."

Such dreams seemed outrageous just a few weeks ago. I believed that Asian teams couldn't compete in the World Cup, that they were just invited to the finals to allow other teams to score. Without the Asians, spectators would have to settle for dull 0-0 and 1-0 games, instead of exciting 8-0 games.

But South Korea has proven me wrong. By reaching the semifinal and finishing fourth, they showed that Asian teams don't have to be doormats. Even India, with the right commitment, could produce a team that causes fear in the soccer world, not just fits of laughter.

To be sure, India is ranked 123 in the world, keeping company with those two African soccer powers, Malawi and Swaziland. Only 32 countries qualify for the World Cup Finals, so India's chances of making it in the near future are not as great as, say, Veerappan's chances of becoming president.

But there's always hope, especially if one billion people pray for the same thing. It almost worked for "Lagaan" at the Oscars, but the movie came a few hundred prayers short. Perhaps next time the government will declare a national prayer day.

In case prayer isn't enough, India needs to focus on developing young soccer players, just as some soccer enthusiasts in Delhi are trying to do. They've formed a society called "We in WC 2010." (WC, hopefully, doesn't stand for wash closet.) The goal is to find and train children who are fit and talented, children with the rare ability to put away their cricket bats.

The society is relying on financial support from private sources, determined to avoid government interference and corruption. That way, nobody will say, "Four players from Kerala and none from Tamil Nadu? How could that be? Wait until Amma hears about this. Heads will roll."

Though encouraging, the venture is on such a small scale that it seems like a shot in the dark. Even if gifted players are discovered, will their skills be honed in professional leagues? Will they get a chance to face the top players in the world, not just the All-Punjab Team? And will I be able to keep on dreaming?

"With its victory over Brazil, India is now ranked number one in the world. Team captain Jaswant Singh has just received a congratulatory phone call from President Veerappan."

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