It is double delight for Argentina football fans in Kerala. If the South American nation lifting the FIFA World Cup after a nerve-racking final against France on Sunday night in Qatar has made them euphoric, the icing on the cake came when the Argentina football team tweeted a thank you message to their Asian fans, with specific mention of Kerala.
“Thank you Bangladesh. Thank you Kerala, India, Pakistan. Your support was wonderful,” read the tweet from the team’s official Twitter handle.
“As an Argentina fan, this is perhaps the ultimate recognition. We celebrated it by distributing 25 kg of biriyani among the public on Monday afternoon,” says Salih Malappuram, admin of the WhatsApp collective Malappuram Argentina Fans.
In fact, Argentina fans had a ball on the streets across the State celebrating their team’s victory. “Many of us got beaten up by the police for celebrating late into night. But the pain was nothing compared to the joy of ending the 36 years-long wait to see our team at the top of world football,” says Mr. Salih.
Argentina fan watching the FIFA World Cup football final match on a wide screen at Shanghumugham in the capital on Sunday night. | Photo Credit: S. MAHINSHA
It was not only team Argentina that acknowledged the support of fans from Kerala but also others. Shortly after his team crashed out of the tournament in the pre-quarters, Brazil star Neymar Jr. through his Instagram handle appreciated the support he and his team enjoy in Kerala. “Thank you so much Kerala, India,” read the post after an image of a child looking at a giant cut-out of his had gone viral on social media.
In fact, this World Cup seems to have put Malayalis’ love for the beautiful game on the global stage thanks in no small measure to social media. Even before the tournament kicked off, FIFA had tweeted the image of the giant cut-outs of Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Cristiano Ronaldo erected in a river at Pullavoor village in Kozhikode to show how Kerala was in the grip of football fever.
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