Wearing the Argentine national team shirts, raising the "Tango" flags, and singing the famous Argentine song, "Messi will bring us the cup, and Maradona is greater than Pele." The Indian Abdul Raouf and his friends enter to watch the Argentina-Australia match.
Abdel Raouf is one of the thousands of Indians who support Lionel Messi’s companions in all his World Cup matches, and that fans of other nationalities support the Argentine national team is normal because of its rich football history and the passage of football legends and stars of heavy caliber over this team, led by Maradona and Messi, but that this support be With this enthusiasm and passion, this is remarkable in the matter.
Messi was the first player to put a giant model of him in a river in Kerala, India, days before the start of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, then the stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar followed.
"Our team does not play in the World Cup in Qatar, and we do not have a strong team, because football is not the favorite game of our people, but rather cricket, and for this we encourage Argentina," Abdel Raouf says.
Finn (first from the right): Argentina's love in India is primarily due to Maradona (the island)
But why Argentina in particular?
Abdel Raouf confirms that "the majority of the Indian people began to follow football and pay attention to this game, that is, in the 1986 World Cup, and this is the year of Maradona, who alone led his country to the coronation, then starred in 1990, and after him many stars came such as Gabriel Batistuta, Ariel Ortega and Hernan Crespo, all the way to Lionel Messi and this loyalty My love for the Argentine national team does not change.
As for Finn, who also attended with his friends, he has another point of view and says that "our encouragement for Argentina has become a legacy for a large part of the Indian people and has become their support in every major tournament in which they play, regardless of the names of the players, and confirmed that this love is due primarily to Maradona." .
In Pullavoor, a small town in India, they placed a gigantography of Lionel Messi in the middle of the river.
Wow!
pic.twitter.com/1Df2FaJE7O
— BeksFCB (@Joshua_Ubeku) October 31, 2022
And he added, "Messi is the first star to have a large 9-meter-high model installed for him in the Kurungatu Kadav River in the town of Kozhikode in Kerala state, and this is due to their love, appreciation and adoration for the Argentine national team captain."
This is in India, as for Bangladesh, the love for the Argentine national team has reached an extraordinary amount, and pictures and videos have spread of tens of thousands of Bengalis celebrating the Argentine national team’s qualification to the final price in the streets of the Bengali capital, Dhaka, which is 17,000 km from Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital.
It was Morning 3.00am.
The whole country #Bangladesh did not sleep until then, as the match of #Argentina was midnight 1.00am.
After winning, it was how the victory of Argentina was celebrated in Dhaka and other places of Bangladesh.
#VamosArgentina love from #Bangladesh.
❣️ pic.twitter.com/uCeq6SkPfp
- Mahadi Muhammad 🇧🇩 (@mahaditweets) December 4, 2022
More than 120 million people of Bangladesh support the Argentina team and 160 million people love Messi.
This is a big proof.
Congratulations and best wishes from Bangladesh to the team of Argentina. com/LBZZ49JaX4
- Repon Khan (@ReponKh92758939) December 2, 2022
"Sujud", who came with his friend to encourage the Argentine national team, explains that "the majority of our people began to support the Argentine national team in the mid-eighties, that is, when color televisions entered Bangladesh, and this coincided with the 1986 World Cup and watching the Argentine magician and the golden boy Maradona, who shocked the world with his football skills and abilities."
He added, "It was love at first sight and reserved a place in the hearts of millions of Bengalis still until now, and the love of a large section of the Bengali people for Argentina continued with the emergence of a new magician, Lionel Messi."
During Al-Jazeera Net's presence in the "Ahmed bin Ali" stadium, which hosted Argentina's victory over Australia, we saw some Argentine fans carrying Bangladeshi flags and chanting its name.
Even the official account of the "Albiceleste" team on Twitter tweeted, "Thank you for supporting our team, you are crazy about football like us."
#Qatar2022
🇦🇷🤜🤛🇧🇩
¡¡Gracias por el apoyo a nuestro equipo!!
🙌 💙
¡Están re locos como nosotros!
🤣 pic.twitter.com/D5zOvkAfqs
- Selección Argentina 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) December 1, 2022
Likewise, Argentine media and social media influencers published videos and photos that turned into a trend in Argentina and Bangladesh.
There are additional factors - according to the Spanish newspaper Marca - for this Bengali love for the Argentine national team stems mainly from the "Mexico 1986" World Cup, specifically from the match between Albiceleste and England after 4 years of conflict between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands.
And the newspaper continues that Bangladesh, which was colonized by the British, sympathized with Argentina in this conflict, which was evident in its support for the South American team.
There may be a repetition of a confrontation between Argentina and England in the final of the World Cup "Qatar 2022" in the event that the two teams successfully pass the quarter-final and semi-final confrontations, and fans of the Argentine national team from abroad, specifically from Bangladesh, are waiting for this moment, to express once again their solidarity and support for the Argentine national team.