Football fans in Kerala transform their homes into colourful tributes to their teams

House of Brazil is, as you guessed it, a house painted in the colors of the Brazilian flag (green and yellow). It is tucked away on one of the many side roads on National Highway 66, at a place called Mekkad, near Nedumbassery, 28 kilometers from Kochi.

Is this just a seasonal thing during the FIFA World Cup? “No, it has been like this for the last 20 years, that is, since 2006,” says Salu Paul. “So if you come in December or this time next year, our house will still be ‘wearing’ the Brazilian colors.”

Salu’s house is a landmark in the area, where helpful locals guide the curious in this way. The building says House of Brazil on the wall, a giant, shiny soccer ball propped up on a pole near one of the doors leading into the house, and pictures of Brazilian team players like Neymar Junior. There are Brazilian flags of various sizes everywhere, even plastic flower pots in Brazil’s colors. canarinho or the Canary Team, one of the nicknames of the Brazilian national team.

While many football clubs and football fan groups display flexboards and giant cutouts of their favorite players and teams, there are those, like 60-year-old Salu, who take their love of teams a step further; they unapologetically make it known where their loyalties lie.

Salu’s fleet of school minibuses features the House of Brazil emblem, as well as prints of players such as Vinicius and Neymar Junior. “My vehicles are also called ‘Brazil House’,” he says.

“I started watching the game and following the Brazilian team in 1986, when big names like Socrates and Zico played. That’s when I fell in love with the game and the team. This is my way of showing what it means to me.” Painting started in May, a month before the World Cup, and everything was ready when the World Cup started.

Even now, Salu is playing the game and is part of an experienced team that plays in local tournaments. He has not watched any World Cup matches live but hopes to participate in the 2034 World Cup to be hosted by Saudi Arabia.

There’s more to Salu’s love of the game, and the proof is the big white screen at the end of the shed on one side of his house. Dozens of plastic chairs are stacked on one side. “I watch all the matches every day. People watch from here, young children and girls too. Football and sports clubs also watch them, but this would be an all-male area where women might not feel comfortable. It’s like a family affair,” she adds.

Salu’s wife Lathi interjects: “People don’t hesitate to send their children to Kochayan’s (how Lathi calls Salu) house.” Salu is known as Koçayan in the region. Lathi supports her husband’s love for Brazil, even wearing a Brazilian jersey like Salu when posing for photos.

He admits that the Brazilian team is not among the best candidates for the World Cup: “I love Neymar Junior. The team may not have achieved it, but they had their moments. After the times of greats like Socrates… Do you remember the days of Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Ronaldo (not Cristiano)?” It doesn’t matter whether the team wins or loses, the colors of the Brazilian flag bleed in Salu’s heart.

And then he adds with a smile: “But Messi is my favorite football player! Brazil is my team, I love Neymar, but I can’t deny Messi’s genius!”

Joy Uthuppu and his wife Tessy, from Koovapady, East Cheranallor, is an ardent Messi and Argentina fan who paints her house in the team colours. | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT

For the love of Messi

Meanwhile, 20 kilometers away, at Koovapady in East Cheranellor near Perumbavoor, 35-odd kilometers from Kochi, Joy Uthuppu’s home is testament to her love for Messi and Argentina. Light blue and white painted house: The roof and the lower half of the house are blue, while the door leading to the terrace on the first floor (which forms the central part of the building) has a white flex printed with the May Sun, the golden yellow emblem with a human face on the Argentine flag.

“I was planning to go to the USA for the FIFA World Cup, but I couldn’t go. This made me want to do something to commemorate this event,” says 59-year-old Joy, who got teary-eyed after watching the matches in the early hours of the morning. Returning home from church after morning mass on St. Thomas’ Day. “Fans of the game in north Kerala usually do such things, but this time some of us decided to show our love for the game,” says Joy.

“He wanted to paint the pots and pots different colors. I said, ‘Absolutely not,'” says his wife, Tessy. The exterior was painted in three days.

Five minutes later, he leaves the house wearing an Argentina jersey: Number 10, Messi. A poster on one side of the house features several Argentine players and Uthuppus (Joy, his wife and their son).

One of his sons, who lives in the US, got married in the US earlier this year, which he had to attend. This dealt a blow to his World Cup plans.

“But I was determined to do the best I could. We went on a road trip, cramming everything we could into a week,” Joy says. Although he missed the 2026 season, he was in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.

Football fans in Kerala are turning their homes into colorful mementos of their team

Football fans in Kerala turn their homes into a colorful memento for their team | Video Credit: The Hindu

But the highlight of the trip was yet to come. And yes, it had to do with football and Messi. “My daughter-in-law flew from Houston to Miami to watch the Inter Miami match. I tried to catch a glimpse of Messi in front of his house. We went back and forth a few times hoping we might see him. No luck!”

Tessy said: “So what? He was able to see Messi up close during the match. Our seats were very close to the pitch.” “He was always involved in football and never missed a game in the 30-odd years we were married,” he backs her up.

Dedicated to the game

Sevinç smiles. Like most Argentine fans, his admiration for Messi is unabashed. He is unbothered and unapologetic about his love for Messi and the game. “There’s something about him. Yes, he’s a talented player, of course he’s the GOAT. But that’s not all… his goodness, his love for his family, his dedication to the game. There’s so much more to him.”

He has always been an Argentina fan, since 1986, when Argentina’s OG icon Diego Maradona made the big splash: He was 14 years old then.

Joy explains how he met Lionel Messi for the first time: “When it came to the European league, I was an Arsenal fan. Until I watched the FC Barcelona match and the young Argentine player Lionel Messi. That’s it. His maturity on the field, the magic of his left foot…”

He sees football as more than a sport. “It is a happiness far from life that nothing else can give or even match. It has the power to keep young people away from other bad habits.” Joy runs a sports shop and coaches football teams, organizing and even playing league matches between local teams in and around the area.

“Football has helped me make a lot of connections, a lot of friendships. It means everything to me,” Joy says.

His friends and neighbors have come to watch the matches every year since the 1994 World Cup. “We would have about 35-40 people at our house at any given time to watch the game. The numbers have come down, but we still have a dozen or so people coming every day,” he adds.

Joy says, “I never left football. It has always been a part of my life for 45 years.”

For Salu and Joy, painting their house in the colors of their favorite team does not mean showing their loyalty. This is evidence of what play means to them, how it has become a part of their lives and social interactions.