06 July,2010 05:53 PM IST | | A Correspondent
The semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup tournament are upon us and it seems that Indians just can't get enough of the beautiful game, as a recent study suggests.
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According to Nielsen Online BuzzMetrics analysis Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who announced recently that he had become a father, and England's Wayne Rooney are the most discussed players by Indians online in message boards, blogs, discussion groups and micro logs (Twitter). Argentine striker Lionel Messi and US player Landon Donovan closely followed in popularity levels.
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Furthermore, England's shameful ouster from the tournament has made them team favorites for discussion online. "England was loved and hated, but hardly ignored in Indian social media last month. The manner of their exit and the 'Lampard goal' controversy was discussed widely.
On sentiment, Germany has impressed one and all with their plays in this World Cup and it is no surprise that the blogosphere has nice things to say about them," Karthik Nagarajan, Associate Director, Online & IT Practice, The Nielsen Company. England's popularity was followed by the Brazilian team that were knocked out in the quarterfinals and the Spanish team that will play Germany on Wednesday for a place in the finals.
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The Football World Cup had a viewership of 53 million Indians with a 29 percent reach since the games started on 11th June, 2010, to the pre-quarterfinal games, according to viewership data from TAM.
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The highest television rating (TVR) was 1.93 percent for the match between Portugal and Brazil played on 25th June 2010.
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Netherlands takes on Uruguay tonight in the first semi finals of the World Cup while Spain and Germany will fight it out tomorrow.
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