Choosing an alternative this World Cup

The World Cup can be a tough time to deal with if your beloved team gets knocked out. First there is this thing of coping up with the loss. Then you have to act like Bruce Wayne from his early 20s and put up a hollowed smile on your face and move on with your life. But it doesn't have to be this way. You can take another shot at it and try rooting for another team.

There are two ways to go about it, depending on what type of fan you are. If you are the avid football fan whose life suddenly loses meaning at that time of the year when there is a two-month break before the start of a new season, you certainly have enough expertise to make this decision without too much sweating. But if you are the seasonal football fan whose interest is piqued every four years, you will need a little bit of guidance before you are good to go. Nevertheless, here are a couple of strategies you can follow in order to not get your heart broken twice in one World Cup. That kind of setback can potentially send your life into a tailspin and nobody deserves that (except for the fans of your rival team).

THE UNDISPUTED FAVOURITE

This one is a no-brainer and the safest bet to go about. You can personally analyse and come to a conclusion on which team has the highest possibility of lifting the trophy at the end of the tournament and jump onto the bandwagon without a moment's hesitation. Or, you can try to be all ears to any conversation related to this (WARNING: PROBABLE TOXICITY) that will help you make the decision. Try to make the move as subtle as possible so that nobody can point their fingers and troll you excessively. Post a status hailing them AFTER the match is over, if you must.

STICKING TO YOUR CLUB

This will be a rather emotional decision appealing to the fanboy in you. Identify and make a list of all the players and their national teams from your favourite football club. After that, choose the national team with the better sets of players from that list, because that team mathematically has a higher probability of winning the big one. If all goes according to plan, you will not only be celebrating your  team's triumph but also get to brag about how your club has some of the best players who ended up winning the World Cup. From your favourite team getting knocked out to boasting about your alternative team's success courtesy of the club players, that'd be quite the turnaround.

ARCHRIVAL'S OPPONENT

BAD BLOOD! You hardly need any other reason to root for the team which could potentially knock your archrival team out and send them to the airport to catch an early flight, maybe even in the same flight as your old favourite team. You will need to be a bit far-sighted for this strategy to pay dividends.

P.S. This is not applicable in case your first team got knocked out by your arch-rivals next opponent.

GET A PAUL

Remember Paul the Octopus? The overnight sensation correctly predicted the winners in a bunch of matches in 2010. So, in case you are suffering from indecisiveness, go get yourself a Paul the Octopus equivalent whom you can absolutely bet your money on to make the right decision for you. But it's okay if you don't have it in you to make even that call, we can cover that up on a later article. Fair enough?