Australia and New Zealand drag thousands of fans

Australia and New Zealand drag thousands of fans

A competition that takes place over a month and a half and in two countries, which raises an enormous passion in the area of English influence

The legends of the New Zealand sport almost always refer to the sail or the mythical All Blacks rugby, but these days when one arrives at the Auckland airport he finds signs announcing the Cricket World Cup, a complex sport from which Americans created baseball. Everywhere you can see groups of Indians, Pakistanis, Scots, Englishmen, and from the last February 14 to March 30 in Australia and New Zealand the 11th World Cup is being played.

A total of fourteen teams will play 49 games at fourteen venues. In Australia, 26 matches will be played while New Zealand will host 23 matches. The final of the tournament will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, an exclusive stadium with a capacity for 110,000 spectators. The winner will receive a prize of 2,800,000 euros.

India defends the title achieved in 2011 and also compete England, South Africa, Australia (champion in 1987, 1999, 2003 and 2007), Sri Lanka (1996), Pakistan (1992), West Indies (British Caribbean Islands, 1975 and 1979) , Bangladesh, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland and the United Arab Emirates.

If the battles between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australian Wallabies mobilize the two countries in their rugby clashes, the passion to see the Black Caps (black caps) kiwis in action against the Australian giant, three-time Cup winner Mundo, will paralyze tomorrow Saturday, from two in the afternoon (02:00 in the morning Spanish time) to a whole nation. The expectation is such that the 50,000 locations of Eden Park, the scene of the meeting were sold hours after the result of the draw was known.

New Zealanders have had a good start in this World Cup, winning their three games and for many this clash may be the general rehearsal of the final. For this reason the pressure for the players is very great and for the fans, it is more than a sporting feeling, even for those who do not like cricket. The people of Auckland and the rest of the country have turned to their team and many New Zealand rugby fans are excited about their small cricket team thanks to the great promotion that has been going on for many months.

On Thursday, in the streets of Kabul and Jalalabad, in the provinces of Paktia and Kandahar, Afghanistan's historic first World Cup victory was celebrated with players who know more than anyone the difficulties it has represented for them to be here . Theirs is a story that has captivated not only cricket fans, but people around the world unrelated to this sport. His national team was formed less than 15 years ago, represented by players who grew up in the refugee camps of Pakistan and in a country torn apart by decades of war. Newcomer from the World Cup beat Scotland in Dunedin (South Island of New Zealand) by the smallest of margins (three balls) and the multitude of passionate Afghanistan fans who saw the historic victory at the Oval University brimming with pride and Congratulatory messages came from all corners of the world, from players to politicians. When the team qualified for the World Cup in October 2013, the match lasted several days. "There was a big celebration at the airport, parliamentarians and ministers came to the airport," Captain Mohammad Nabi recalled.

For Afghanistan, this is more than cricket. The team has become a source of inspiration for their fans at home and for Afghans around the world, who rarely have the opportunity to see their country celebrating something on the world sports stage. His batter, Samiullah Shenwari, spoke of the rapid growth of the sport's popularity after the game: "There was nothing before. If you look eight or ten years ago there was nothing in Afghanistan. But now that you can say that in the streets, in schools and across the country you live for cricket. "