PETALING JAYA: Like millions of football fans around the world, Hariz Mohd Rani Hisham and Kelvin Chong grew up watching the World Cup from their living rooms.
More than two decades later, their childhood dream of witnessing football’s biggest spectacle in person is finally coming true.
Come Thursday, the two 31-year-olds will be among the 68,000 football fans at the Houston Stadium in Texas to watch Portugal’s opening game against Congo.
And they are rooting for star player and captain Cristiano Ronaldo (CR7) to lift the ever elusive World Cup trophy for his nation.
“It’s a surreal experience. We always had the idea that the World Cup was half a world away and now, it’s happening right in front of us,” said Hariz, an insights analyst based in San Francisco, California.
Both Hariz and Chong, together with fellow Malaysian Jerome Frank, will be flying to Houston for the game.
“As time passed, the football fever here has become increasingly fever-pitched with advertisements of the beautiful game everywhere you turn,” said Hariz, who is from Shah Alam, Selangor.
For Chong, the chance to see Ronaldo in person was an opportunity he could not skip.
In fact, the childhood Manchester United fan has been watching the Portuguese ever since he donned the Red Devils’ jersey.
“It’s also the strongest Portugal squad in a while, and also proves the last chance for CR7 to win the elusive World Cup,” said Chong, also based in San Francisco as a product operations manager.
“I will be keeping a close eye on the matches in the Round of 32 as that’s the most advanced game scheduled here,” said the Ipoh-born Chong.
