“Flags are selling faster than bread!”

Walking around Beirut you see plenty of flags representing the various nations participating in the 2010 World Cup hanging from peoples’ balconies. We’re also pretty sure you’ll find at least one in every ten cars with a flag attached to its windshield. Everyone is excited about the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and all the energy that the championship brings. Supermarkets, toy shops, internet centers, sportswear stores and even street sellers are selling World Cup merchandise like T-shirts, car accessories, key chains, flags, hats, bracelets and mugs to the fervent Lebanese fans.  

It’s a good time for business. Manal Stouhi owns a sportswear shop called Tchestico in Dohat Aramoun. “Flags are selling a lot!" she exclaims. "If we were selling bread in this shop, flags and World Cup accessories would sell even better.” 

Stouhi even believes that if she were selling Lebanese political party flags, World Cup flags would outsell them easily. “I think everybody has a tendency to develop a liking to sports while political parties are a whole different and complicated matter. Encouraging a football team is a lot easier than encouraging a political party,” she says. She added that the most sought-out products are the ones with pictures of the Argentinian Lionel Messi on them.

Speaking of Argentina, Sara Amhaz, a 21-year-old American University of Beirut student, recently went into a grocery store in Jnah to buy a lighter. “I asked for a lighter and the guy gave me one with the word Germany and the picture of the German flag printed on it," Sara says. "The guy almost shoved it in my face insisting I buy it because he believes the German team is the winning team this time and that they’re the best!” Amhaz angrily refused to buy the lighter and argued with the man over which team will win this championship. “I never bought anything from that guy,” she exclaims. Instead, she went into a neighboring grocery store and found what she was looking for: a lighter with an Argentinian flag printed on it. “I’ve been supporting the Argentinian team ever since I was a little girl. My favorite player was always Diego Maradona and even if he’s not playing anymore I’m still with Argentina,” says Amhaz.

Not only are rival supporters fighting over who will win the World Cup, there are even fights breaking out within families over who will be the champions.

Fadi El Khatib, the Lebanese basketball player currently playing for Champville SC in the Lebanese Basketball League, is a loyal supporter of the 2006 champions, Italy. “I’m making my two boys support Italy just like I grew up convinced that Italy has the best players and the best team,” he says. Once, he even argued with his own cousin for a whole week because his cousin supported Argentina. 

In contrast to all this fighting, Ibrahim Ballout, the 24-year-old captain of the Lebanese American University rugby team, met his ex-girlfriend in 2006 during the previous World Cup tournament. Ballout recalls that they were both cruising in their own cars, each with the Italian flag attached to their car’s radio antenna. It was solely because of the Italian flags that they socialized and got to know each other. With time they realized that they had a lot in common apart from their support for the Italian team and hooked up. 

Some people, like Ihab Al Aawar who works at Kono Pizza in Sadat Street, are so loyal to their preferred team that they’re willing to decorate their entire car with that country’s national flag. Aawar's car is covered in the green Brazilian flag. He has even covered his BMW metal logo on the hood with a small Brazilian flag. “I’m not done with decorating my car yet," he says. "I still want to add a see-through windshield in the colors and shape of the Brazilian national flag. I simply love Brazil and I’ve encouraged its football team players ever since I was a kid,” he adds. 

With summer approaching, kids are keenly awaiting the 2010 World Cup in South Africa by listening to songs like Akon’s official 2010 FIFA World Cup song. Samer Wehbe, 35, owns a music store in Koraytem. “There are school teachers who come in here asking me for music CDs of World Cup songs. These teachers tell me that their young students are very excited about the FIFA World Cup in South Africa this year. They’re refusing to listen to regular songs before their summer vacation starts,” says Wehbe. 

Wehbe says he is currently selling about 15 flags a day. He adds: “It’s amazing in Lebanon how people get excited over events like the World Cup. I don’t think you’ll find people hanging flags everywhere in South Africa itself a couple of months before the games begin. I think the Lebanese people enjoy challenge quite a lot."

Elsewhere, cafés around the country are putting up flat screen monitors so that customers can enjoy the games while smoking the traditional “narjileh”. Ruba Haidar is the public relations manager at Nafas Café in Ramlet El-Baida. “We are well prepared for receiving the World Cup fans in our café,” says Haidar, pointing out the many flags, representing most of the countries competing, that currently decorate the café. 

This article was previously published in Issue V of the Lebanese American University's 'The Tribune' .