Kolkata, June 17 (IANS): A few months ahead of their annual football tournament that brings together the children of sex workers from across West Bengal, these sports enthusiasts now have only two things on their minds - the World Cup in Brazil and Ronaldo.
As many as 40 budding players - whose mothers are a part of the marginalised community - are looking forward to picking up some useful tips from the Argentina, Brazil and Portugal matches of the tournament being played more than 15,000 km away.
They have ditched their textbooks for the beautiful game these days and with their very own annual soccer tourney slated to be held some time in August, they are hooked.
"There is only a small TV set at our sports centre in Baruipur (25 km from Kolkata). However, that does not stop these children, mostly teenagers, from crowding around it well past midnight into the early hours of the morning," Biswajit Majumdar, sports trainer for the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), told IANS.
DMSC is an NGO for sex workers.
As many as 55 children of sex workers receive training at the Baruipur sports academy. Regular sports tournaments are organised by the academy to showcase their talent and a few of them even represented India at the Homeless World Cup last year.
Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo is their hot favourite.
"Most of them support Ronaldo and they are rooting for Portugal. They have been talking about it all day. However, Argentina and Brazil fans are not far behind when it comes to fervour," Majumdar said, adding even some of the girls are fans of the game.