pune as the day of the 2014 fifa world cup finals nears the excitement is palpable in jampacked restaurants and lounges across the city the places showcasing live matches are dotted with mostly yellow white and orange groups for brazil germany and the netherlands during the matches strangers become friends and old friends turn competitors complete with their favourite teams jersey food and drinks friends and acquaintances come together to enjoy the late night matches even over whatsapp and skype to enjoy the matches around eight to 10 of us get together at a club or lounge in the city showing the matches live says warren dsilva a postgraduate student who has adjusted his daily schedule to accommodate the world cup matches there are many others in the city who have found similarinterest groups and make it a point to get together during the matches and even for postmatch discussions for fans whose friends are overseas or in other cities regular updates and scores are passed around in whatsapp groups my engineering college friends are spread across the globe with a few in pune two in bangalore one in germany and another one in the us but once the matches start its a big party with all of us crashing at a friends place in our favourite jerseys loaded with finger food and beer those who arent physically present connect through whatsapp and skype says aurelia bhoy a football fan by night and a professional brewer by day majority of us supports brazil but there are some rooting for germany as well the group supporting the losing team is usually at the receiving end of jibes but this is the fun of the world cup as it brings people together many of whom i had not interacted with after college she adds aurelia has big plans for the finals on the night of july 13 her friends from bangalore and mumbai are travelling to pune to watch the match together as the matches get more interesting with each passing day mayur solanki an it professional currently posted in australia has rearranged his schedule around the world cup he gets up to watch the first match at 2am takes a nap at 4am and then makes sure to get up again to catch the next match at 6am then there are some like aditya manvis group of friends who stay awake till the match ends around 4am and then use the adrenaline rush to go out and play an actual game of football in one of the citys grounds another avid fan arpit chandra who is preparing for his ms exams cannot help but stay glued to the television football is a game which demands your attention every second you cannot get bored or even take your eyes off the screen he says he is quick to add that the world cup this time is especially exciting as it is has been highly unpredictable teams like spain have crashed out and