Last week, this picture from Pullavoor village in Kerala’s Kozhikode district, of cut-outs of three of the game’s all-time greats, captured the peak of soccer frenzy in a state that has already begun dressing up for the largest sporting occasion in 4 years — the FIFA World Cup, to be held in Qatar.

#FIFAWorldCup fever has hit Kerala 🇮🇳

Giant cutouts of Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi popped up on an area river forward of the match.

12 days to go till #Qatar2022 🏆 pic.twitter.com/29yEKQvln5

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) November 8, 2022

FIFA, the worldwide physique governing soccer, had shared {a photograph} of the cutouts within the Pullavoor river and tweeted, “#FIFAWorldCup fever has hit Kerala.”

FIFA’s acknowledgment of Kerala’s obsession with the game prompted CM Pinarayi Vijayan to reply with a tweet: “Kerala and Keralites have always loved football and it is on full display with #Qatar2022 around the corner. Thank you @FIFA for acknowledging our unmatched passion for the sport.”

Pullavoor soccer followers, nonetheless, say they aren’t shocked, even when slightly amused, on the sudden consideration that their village has acquired. “Football world cups have always been a carnival for us. Last time, we put up a giant Argentina flag across the river and that created quite a buzz too,” says Jabir, 28, who owns a jewelry retailer within the village.

This time, too, it was Jabir who, round six months in the past, got here up with the thought of putting a cutout of Messi mid-stream, on a small island of inexperienced.

In latest years, Pullavoor, a village of Gulf expatriates in Kunnamangalam block of Kozhikode, has largely been cut up down the center over their soccer loyalties in direction of Argentinian Messi and Brazilian Neymar. Jabir says he has been a Messi fan for so long as he can bear in mind.

“After we put up Messi’s cut-out, Neymar fans outdid us by putting up a taller, 40-ft one, of their hero. But it was all in the right spirit. We didn’t feel snubbed. There is a bridge near the river, it provides the best view. What a sight these cut-outs are! The whole world knows our village now,” he says, beaming.

Akbar, who put up the Neymar cut-out together with his pals, says, “Messi fans were trying to needle us, so we got back with Neymar.”

The comeback by the Neymar followers concerned an elaborate plan. “We have a WhatsApp group with more than 75 Brazil fans. I brought up the plan to install a cutout of Neymar in the river and managed to convince the group to contribute. Many non-resident Keralites pitched in too,” says Akbar, 29, who owns a cell phone retailer within the village.

And in a magnanimous show of sportsmanship, the followers determined Ronaldo, that different GOAT, couldn’t be left behind. “There are only four-five Ronaldo fans here, but we thought we had to give them a representation as well. So of us — Messi, Neymar and Ronaldo fans — pooled in money for the cut-out,” says Akbar.

As it turned out, at 45 toes, the Ronaldo cut-out ended up being the tallest of the lot.

As with nearly every little thing else in Kerala, the cut-outs generated a heated debate — and a criticism to the Koduvally Municipality — over whether or not they had been impeding the stream of the river.

Abdu Vellara, chairperson of the Koduvally Municipality who’s from Pullavoor, says, “We have always been a football-loving crowd. Our village has a history of boisterous celebrations. Earlier, private individuals would screen matches, but this year, our municipality has decided to place a huge screen in the village for everyone to watch. And no… the cutouts won’t come in the way of the river. The controversy is just baseless.”

MLA PTA Rahim, too, says the controversy is unwarranted, “I visited the spot today and saw many people posing with the cut-outs and taking photographs. The villagers are euphoric at all this attention.”

Like most different evenings, kids and males collect on the New Friends floor. But today, with the World Cut frenzy build up, the ‘players’ have traded their shirts for jerseys of their favorite groups — principally the striped blue of Argentina and the yellow of Brazil. As gamers deal with the ball and sometimes ship it racing throughout the bottom, they let loose loud roars. Metres away, on the Kurungattu Kadavu river, the cut-outs sway gently within the night breeze — a silent acknowledgement from the GOATS of Pullavoor’s ardour for the game.