LHASA, Tibet (AP) -- At Tibet's holiest shrine, young monks are getting up at 3 a.m. Not to pray, but to watch the World Cup.
Lights flickered in the windows of the Potala Palace, former home of Tibet's exiled ruler, the Dalai Lama, as France beat Portugal this week to set up a final showdown on Sunday against Italy.
Monks watched on a 21-inch color TV, drinking Coca-Cola and eating instant noodles, said Lobsang, a 27-year-old monk with a gapped-toothed smile and a closely shorn head.
"I get very excited, very happy, when I watch the games, because I get to see a lot of the famous players," said Lobsang, who like many of the 83 monks at the palace goes by only one name.
Tibet's Buddhist monks aren't encouraged to play soccer, though they are allowed to watch. But among ordinary Tibetans, the game is as wildly popular as it is in the rest of sports-crazed China.
"Most Tibetans love and play football," says Bian Ba, a former player for Tibet's official league team. He now works in the Potala Palace, helping with tourists and keeping an eye on the treasures.
But is it acceptable for monks to become so attached to a sport when their goal is to let go of worldly pleasures? Lobsang thinks so.
"This activity brings a kind of happiness," he said. "It doesn't harm anybody and it brings people together."
Lights flickered in the windows of the Potala Palace, former home of Tibet's exiled ruler, the Dalai Lama, as France beat Portugal this week to set up a final showdown on Sunday against Italy.
Monks watched on a 21-inch color TV, drinking Coca-Cola and eating instant noodles, said Lobsang, a 27-year-old monk with a gapped-toothed smile and a closely shorn head.
"I get very excited, very happy, when I watch the games, because I get to see a lot of the famous players," said Lobsang, who like many of the 83 monks at the palace goes by only one name.
Tibet's Buddhist monks aren't encouraged to play soccer, though they are allowed to watch. But among ordinary Tibetans, the game is as wildly popular as it is in the rest of sports-crazed China.
"Most Tibetans love and play football," says Bian Ba, a former player for Tibet's official league team. He now works in the Potala Palace, helping with tourists and keeping an eye on the treasures.
But is it acceptable for monks to become so attached to a sport when their goal is to let go of worldly pleasures? Lobsang thinks so.
"This activity brings a kind of happiness," he said. "It doesn't harm anybody and it brings people together."
