india

Updated: Jul 14, 2014 21:09 IST

Joachim Loew's World Cup winning German team ended a diehard Assam fan's 20-year wait to drink a bottle of Scotch he had buried in his courtyard for 20 years.

Ironically, those who helped Putul Borah dig the bottle three feet under the surface early Monday morning were Argentina supporters, some of them forced to 'defect' because Latin America neighbour Brazil had a disgraceful exit in the semifinal.

"This is the happiest day of my life, and not because my favourite team has given me the opportunity to drink Scotch after two decades to celebrate their World Cup victory," Borah, 53, said.

A resident of Diphu town in Assam's Karbi Anglong district, Borah had in 1994 spent R630 to buy the bottle of Passport Scotch whiskey in Kolkata anticipating Germany's victory. Germany's 2-1 loss to Bulgaria that year left Borah so heartbroken that he buried the Scotch.

The businessman had watched all the World Cup matches with his wife, close friends and 10-year-old daughter from a specially constructed pavilion in his house. "I have been following German football ever since television brought European football home in the 1980s. Miroslav Klose and Mesut Ozil are my favourites along with greats like Lothar Mathews, Jurgen Klinsmann, Rudy Voeller, Oliver Kahn and Michael Ballack," he said.