Room to run

WHO could have predicted that Brazil and Argentina would be out of the World Cup within a day of each other, without even making it to the semi-finals?
That's equivalent to Federer or Nadal losing in straight sets at a very early stage in Wimbledon, or the L.A. Lakers not making it past Oklahoma City in the NBA playoffs. I am sure all the odds makers in Las Vegas (and quant shops focused on this billion-dollar industry) were in disarray with the departure of Brazil and Argentina. But I was ecstatic with the shakeup (quite frankly I was tired of hearing "who do you support, Argentina or Brazil?" As if the other 30 teams were chopped liver.)
In general, I am a contrarian and fan of underdog teams, so I had hoped Brazil and Argentina would lose. To celebrate Germany's victory over Argentina and to rub it in to the losers (the supporters) I thought I would take a ride down the strip, i.e. Gulshan Avenue (from Gulshan 1 to 2 circle), waving the German flag in my red Ferrari Enzo. (Which by the way I didn't buy with "black" money. I bought it with genuine clean "white" money. Honest).
I brought along my vuvuzela and thought I would blow the horn anytime I saw a Brazilian or Argentinean flag (or anyone I deemed to be a fan of these teams). I realised that the sound of vuvuzela would annoy everyone, and I would collectively be punishing those who don't even care about football, but I justified my irrational behavior ("irrational exuberance" in Alan Greenspan/Robert Schiller parlance) with "Hey, it's the World Cup!"
My plan didn't pan out quite as I imagined. I couldn't even drive two minutes without running into traffic. In fact, after 25 minutes, I barely drove one kilometre. My car did attract a lot of attention, but that's not why I was stuck. It wouldn't have mattered if I was in the ubiquitous Corolla X or a Ferrari, traffic doesn't discriminate, it stops everyone.
Of the 12-cylinders in my Ferrari, I imagine not even one fired up even 10% of its full potential. Although the Ferrari Enzo can go 0 to 60 in 3 seconds, I barely reached 10 mph (rickshaws and pedestrians zoomed past me). Frustrated by this, I made an illegal S-turn and drove towards oncoming traffic (S-turns are similar to U-turns, but instead of going with the flow of traffic, you are going against the traffic. In no way am I advocating this behaviour).
I waved politely to the police officer in charge of the intersection (who happened to be on his mobile phone, probably talking to his broker about the next big IPO on DSE) and headed back home. You may be wondering how driving a Ferrari in Dhaka city has anything to do with football and the World Cup. The answer: Everything!

Ikhtiar Kazi is an Economist/Capital Markets Professional turned Sports Philosopher.