It's Zizou vs TeamItaly

With favourites like Brazil, England and Germany out of the game, who is Bangalore rooting for tonight?
The yellow 'n' green Tshirts have been put away as Bangalore's suddenly been forced into making lastminute choices. The city's Brazilian fans have teamed up with German, Portuguese and English supporters, all trying to figure out whether France or Team Italy will top their list of favourites now.
He was rooting for Brazil all the way, and now that his team lost, music professional Vachan is depressed. "I started off with two favourites - Brazil and France."
But after France beat his number one favourite, Vachan's refusing to root for them. "Yet," says Vachan, "I will watch the finals unwillingly. If there's one guy I'm rooting for, it's Zidane."
It's never been a tough choice for actor Dino Morea, whose dad's half Italian. "It's been Italy all the way," Dino told BT. "I guess there must be some patriotic blood in me.
Italy were the underdogs, but they've performed brilliantly. Del Piero, Luca Toni, Buffon -we've got a terrific team and a great shot at winning."
Graphic designer Tania Khosla wanted either Portugal or any of the South American countries to win. Since they're all out of the World Cup, it's Team Italy now for Tania. "But there's no fun left - the South Americans have more oomph; Europeans play clinical football."
The list of Brazilian fans has been endless, so their ouster from the World Cup has left yet another supporter sad. But Naveen Wazir, hospitality consultant, is divided about his loyalties now: "As individual players go, I'm rooting for Zidane.
But as a team, Italy is rocking right now." Other popular teams included England and Argentina. Even the host country was popular in namma Bengaluru.
"I was betting on Germany," says copywriter Anahita Pinto. Now, she's rooting for Italy. Does she feel bad about having a second favourite? "Not really. Eventually it's all about the game," she says.
kanakhirani@indiatimes.com