2014 — The year I made my FIFA world cup reporting debut
By Umaid Wasim
“The second row? Really?” I almost screamed inside.
Dawn was making its FIFA World Cup debut and I was incredibly honoured and nervous at the opportunity of being part of the little slice of history.
At the high-profile opening match of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, I walked towards the media tribune with the opening ceremony just minutes away at the Itaquerao in Sao Paulo. The crowd eagerly awaited the hosts to start off the tournament with a bang against Croatia.
A volunteer checked my accreditation card and helped me take my seat alongside the giants of football journalism. This is where the news agencies — Reuters, AP, AFP and many others — relay the action from.
Covering the FIFA World Cup had been my dream. I hope to cover many more but Brazil 2014 was my first and one I will cherish forever. At the start of my career, I had made a point to become a ‘true’ football reporter in Pakistan. Many had not been supportive.
“You’ll get nowhere being a football reporter … try your hand at cricket,” people used to tell me.
Five years later, on June 12, I was walking towards my seat for the opener — making my World Cup debut.
I was no giant, just a novice covering his first World Cup alongside people who were at their tenth, including Mike Collett, the global football editor of Reuters.
Journalists like Henry Winter, Jonathan Wilson, Sid Lowe and John Leicester, whose articles I had been reading for the last seven years were sharing their thoughts right next to me.
Buoyed by the atmosphere I filed my first pre-match report from the tournament well ahead of time; my first front-page story!
Reporting at the World Cup is done at a furious pace. Getting all the facts straight, translating, running after the interviewee and getting less than ideal responses at the press conferences can all add to the drama. So contrary to popular belief, it's not an easy ride.
But Brazil won that match 3-1 to kick off the footballing festival and make life easier for all of us. It's usually a good thing when the hosts start with a win. It not only settles the nerves of the fans but also the journalists.
I was going to cover 14 more matches, including the grand final that Germany won 1-0 against Argentina courtesy that superb extra-time goal by Mario Goetze.
Germany well-and-truly deserved to be crowned world champions. They had been the best team at the World Cup, hands down.
While the Germans were given their due share of the spotlight, I had also been thrust into the spotlight four days before the final when local football website footballpakistan.com made a meme of me being the only reporter from the country in Brazil.
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`It pushed me to get the scoop even faster to my editor in Karachi; it pushed me to get creative.
FIFA was very gracious towards me during the World Cup and I usually got the best seats in the rest of the matches I covered including the front row for the second semi-final at the Itaquerao.
That match came after covering the first semi-final in Belo Horizonte where the Germans ripped the Brazilians apart to the horror of the home side.
The scoreline at the end of that mayhem read: 7-1.
As we headed towards the media centre at the end of the game, we were all shocked at what had just happened. No one expected Brazil to lose like that. Maybe it was the curse of Messi.
Two hours before the semi-final began, I got a call from the desk asking if I could send some pre-game photos.
I, along with my journalist friend Siddharth Saxenna of the Times of India, went out from the stadium and towards the hordes of expectant Brazilian fans, all decked up in yellow.
They wore masks of Neymar, masks of the Incredible Hulk [hoping that his namesake would fill the void left by Neymar’s injury] and incredibly, they had one inflated doll that had an Argentina jersey with the name ‘Lionel Messi’ printed on its back in an apparent jibe at the master striker.
Post-match, that crowd was nowhere to be seen.
We all shared the disappointment with the Brazilians. Brazil winning at home was too good to be true; too good for my first World Cup.
Back at the media centre, I recollected my thoughts as I began writing the match report. I wrote, and I deleted before writing and deleting again. The perfect intro just didn't come. How could you describe the emotion of all that had transpired just minutes ago? If it were to be a boxing match, the referee would have stopped the game at half-time.
Brazil's story had ended, my journey continued.
In the coming days I met the legends of the world game including Roberto Carlos, Alessandro del Piero, Steve McManaman, Juan Sebastian Veron, Ivan Zamorano and Faustino Asprilla— all of whom were working for different channels.
It was at the media centre at Rio’s iconic Marcana Stadium where I met legendary commentator Martin Tyler who hailed Dawn’s presence at the World Cup.The media centre is the hub of activity. Here, journalists from all over the world converge before and after the matches.
One of the people whose works I avidly read told me: “You’re covering your first World Cup at 26. Now that’s quite sexy!”
It is here that you feel the adrenaline rush. The media centre is the hub of activity with reporters furiously typing their reports, trying to meet the deadlines, running after stories. This is where you fall in love all over again with your job.
Covering World Cups are the highlight of our job as sports journalists. Brazil 2014 offered me my first big moment and what a World Cup it was, one that was given 9.25 marks out of 10 by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
The attacking football at the World Cup was refreshing, it engaged fans all over the world and those who visited Brazil would have unforgettable memories.
Barring the security lapse in which Chilean fans invaded the media centre, FIFA and local organisers managed to hold a trouble-free World Cup despite concerns before the start of the tournament.
None of those concerns materialised. From the word go with Pitbull, J-Lo and Claudia Leite raising the roof till Goetze scoring that brilliant winner, the World Cup was an absolute delight to cover.
Spain and tiki-taka crashed, Luis Suarez bit, Cristiano Ronaldo misfired and Messi failed to conjure up that magic moment.
I think I wouldn’t be wrong in saying that Brazil 2014 was the absolute sporting highlight of the year. There were so many stories to tell. Maybe all World Cups have that many stories.
But Brazil 2014 will always be the special one for me, even more so because FIFA honoured Dawn — and in a way, Pakistan — in the best possible way.
When Goetze scored that goal, I was typing as fast as I could.
“Likhnay aye hain hum yahan. Likho (We’ve come here to write, so write),” as another journalist friend of mine, Dhiman Sarkar of the Hindustan Times used to say throughout the World Cup.
The newsroom was waiting for the story of the final. I had hardly five minutes after the final ended to send in my story.
I sent it in two. It was splashed on the front page of Dawn; a proud moment for me.
Maybe the next one would be of the opening ceremony of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The World Cup ended as all good things come to an end. We left Brazil with messages of ‘See you in Russia’ to each other.
In Russia, though, I hope there would be many other journalists from Pakistan.
I hope other media houses follow Dawn’s lead in sending reporters to cover the FIFA World Cup. Believe me, it’s a fascinating experience.