KYRGYZSTAN: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - EURO 2012 - Kyrgyz 86-year old grandmother follows Euro-2012 championships
Record ID:
872550
KYRGYZSTAN: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - EURO 2012 - Kyrgyz 86-year old grandmother follows Euro-2012 championships
- Title: KYRGYZSTAN: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - EURO 2012 - Kyrgyz 86-year old grandmother follows Euro-2012 championships
- Date: 17th June 2012
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Kyrgyz) SOCCER FAN ALTYN KACHKANAKOVA, SAYING: "I'm cheering for England... (REACTS TO ENGLAND GOAL) Oh! England got a goal! (Player number) Nine, nine, nine! I'll write it down now." VARIOUS KACHKANAKOVA WRITING AS GRANDSON WATCHES SOCCER MATCH ON TELEVISION, PLAYER NUMBER NINE SHOWN SCORING A GOAL KACHKANOVA WATCHING VARIOUS HOUSE EXTERIOR
- Embargoed: 2nd July 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Kyrgyzstan
- City:
- Country: Kyrgyzstan
- Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky,Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA9DXW9JX9NUX8643TD2TAWGBBW
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: An eighty-six year old grandmother in rural Kyrgyzstan has become an avid soccer fan, tuning in to Euro-2012 football matches in the middle of the night to cheer for her favourite teams.
Altyn Kachkanakova has found an unusual pastime for a female pensioner - she has become an ardent soccer enthusiast.
"She loves soccer - she can watch it until three in the morning. I say, 'Why are you watching so much soccer?' She says 'I love it,' and I say, 'Well, you have to rest sometimes.' 'No,' (she says)," Altyn's eighty-six year old husband told Reuters, "It's always noisy - the TV is always on...well, my dear," Altyn's husband Abdyldabek Alkanov told Reuters.
Kachkanakova has two television sets at home, where she can tune in to view the nightly matches and records the championship results on a giant poster taped to the side of one of her cabinets.
The eighty-six year old, however, isn't satisfied with the quality of picture she gets in rural Kyrgyzstan. She has begun travelling to her daughter's house in Tokmok - a two-hour commute from her home village - to watch the championships.
"In our village home there are two television sets. An old Korean set in the hall, but it doesn't have an antenna and the picture is really bad, so we have a home-made antenna on top of it. They're always turning off the lights (electricity), so I came to my daughter. She has a new, big television. I have my own television in my room, but it's too small, you can't see anything," Kachkanakova told Reuters.
Kachkanakova, who has mothered 12 children, likes to cheer for England.
"England is the father of soccer - the homeland of soccer. If it wasn't for England, nobody would know what football is," Kachkanakova said, during a match between England and Sweden.
She meticulously keeps track of game stats and scores, handwriting them on loose-leaf.
"I'm cheering for England...Oh! England got a goal! (Player number) Nine, nine, nine! I'll write it down now," Kachkanakova exclaimed after England's Andy Carroll scored a goal against Sweden.
The Euro-2012 Championships are being co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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