World Cup fever in Papua

DBasia.news – The 2022 World Cup is well received by the wider community, including people in Papua. Braif Fatari, Persija Jakarta’s forward, talked about how enthusiastic Papuans are about organizing the World Cup.

The number 80 player said that Papuans are crazy about football. Big countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Germany, and France are often the favorite choices in Papua. Including the Netherlands where many players are of Indonesian descent.

“Papuans are thrilled with the Dutch and eastern people have always liked the Netherlands. Maybe because there is Ambonese blood, so when the Netherlands returned to the World Cup they were enthusiastic,” said Braif on the Persija website.

Papuans have become increasingly fanatical about the team they support during the World Cup.

“Cars will be painted according to the colors of the countries they support. I’ve seen cars painted orange because they support the Netherlands. In addition, they will paint and decorate their homes according to the countries they support in the World Cup. So it’s easy to see who they support,” continued Braif.

The 2014 World Cup was the most lively World Cup according to Braif Fatari as many Papuans convoy on the road when their favorite country is competing.

“The people there are happy with the convoy and they often pass each other on the street and taunt each other between supporters. But the worst thing was in the 2014 final, many were disappointed with Argentina losing the final against Germany. So they burned a lot of Argentina’s jerseys and even though they were disappointed, they continued the convoy,” explained Braif.