A footballer practises in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, June 30: With the league stage of the football World Cup over, fans of some of the former champions and star players, who have left the stage early, have shifted loyalties.

Jyoti Prakash Khuntia, 25, an ardent fan of Italy and its rock-solid defence, was crestfallen when the four-time world champions lost to Uruguay.

“Italy was my favourite in the World Cup. When they defeated England easily in their first match, I was so happy that they would make it to the second round. Sadly, that didn’t happen and now, I am going to support Germany, which is playing very well,” said Khuntia.

Another youth, Sikandar Ali, who plays club football here, said that he was a great fan of English Premier League and the England football team. But England’s poor run at the World Cup has disheartened him.

“Despite the presence of one of the best forwards, Wayne Rooney and midfielders such as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, they lost their matches to Italy and Uruguay and drew with Costa Rica. They came fourth in the group of death,” said Ali. Ali now supports Argentina, as Lionel Messi is one of his favourite players.

For ardent fans of individual players such as Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast, the World Cup is over.

The first match of the knockout stage between home team Brazil and another South American giant Chile was a spectacular one, which was decided through penalty shoot out. The intensity of the match could be felt throughout the two-hour match. Already, six matches of the pre-quarters have been played and six teams have qualified for the quarters.

Fans remember the stunning goal of Robin Van Persie of the Netherlands, the super stop by Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, who single-handedly saved the match against Brazil, and Germany forward Thomas Muller’s hat-trick goals.

Controversies such as the one involving Uruguay forward and one of the best players of the world, Luis Suarez, biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini and Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura awarding a penalty to Brazil in the opening match are being hotly discussed among fans here.

“Whatever the controversies might be, this World Cup has been better than its previous one. Quality of football has been very good,” said Satyarup Panda, a soccer fan.

However, many fans complained that frequent power cuts at night and the rain had been affecting the late night watching of the matches.