India, July 13 -- The FIFA world cup semi-finals are here. Nearly a month has whizzed past like a well taken free kick from the edge of the 'D'; the world's attention has remained fixed on the ball and when it hits the net. The dazzling skills of players from across the world have made this world cup one of continuous excitement, euphoria and sadness too (for those who lost).

No South Asian team could make it past the qualifiers but there is a special and indispensable part of every single match that ought to make both sides of the vexed India-Pakistan border proud. The football. A majority of them used in the world cup are made in a historic city situated on the river Chenab in Punjab, Pakistan. It was in the 1980s that Sialkot began em...