Tens of millions of individuals within the South Asian nation assist Argentina, which is able to tackle France in Sunday’s championship sport in Qatar.
Dhaka, Bangladesh – Adnan Imam, a resident of Dhaka, is an ardent fan of Argentina’s soccer group. As he prepares to look at Sunday’s World Cup closing between Argentina and France, he has resorted to superstition to assist his group win.
The 26-year-old software program engineer is often a sceptic and doesn’t consider in any divine intervention or luck, however he stated the jersey he wore for Argentina’s first match introduced unhealthy luck.
“Argentina misplaced towards the Saudis,” Imam instructed Al Jazeera. “Since then, I've switched to an previous jersey, and they're on a profitable streak.”
Rohan Ahmed, in the meantime, organized a particular prayer on Friday for Argentina’s victory at a neighborhood shrine within the port metropolis of Chattagram. Dozens of different Argentina followers joined him.
![[Courtesy of Mahmud Hossain Opu]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Photo-1.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C514)
“I'd slaughter two cows and throw a ‘Mezban’ [a traditional Chattagram feast] if Argentina wins the World Cup,” Ahmed, 39, a delivery agent, instructed Al Jazeera.
Ahmed’s and Imam’s fervour for La Albiceleste, because the Argentine soccer group is understood, defies logic. Their nation is hundreds of kilometres away from Argentina, and the financial and diplomatic ties between the 2 international locations are weak.
Nevertheless, soccer transcends borders, and maybe nowhere is that this extra obvious than on this South Asian nation, the place a big chunk of its 170 million individuals grow to be de facto Argentines each 4 years. They put on mild blue and white jerseys and assist the group and its gamers with the identical zeal as Argentines.
International recognition
Bangladesh’s love for Argentina’s soccer group is a minimum of 4 many years previous, however this yr, it grabbed the eye of the world like by no means earlier than – from FIFA tweeting a clip of hundreds of Bangladeshis celebrating Argentina’s aim towards Mexico to international soccer star Gary Lineker expressing shock at such fandom.
Argentinians additionally took discover of the devotion for his or her soccer group in a faraway land and determined to return the favour. They opened a Fb group for Argentina followers of Bangladesh’s cricket group and began watching the game, through which Bangladesh is taken into account an rising powerhouse. Inside two weeks, the group attracted almost 200,000 members.
In one other shocking gesture, Santiago Cafiero, Argentina’s overseas minister, tweeted that his nation will push to reopen its embassy in Bangladesh, which has been closed since 1978.
“It feels nice that Argentine individuals now understand how loopy we're about Messi and their soccer group,” Sifat Mehedi, one of many moderators of the Fb group, instructed Al Jazeera.
There are dozens of Fb teams in Bangladesh, however this one is the biggest with greater than a half-million members.
“Sure, we rank 192 within the FIFA rankings, however our individuals are among the most passionate soccer followers,” Mehedi stated. “I'd say quadrennial followers, although, as this complete soccer frenzy is centered on the World Cup.”
Mehedi stated social media has performed an enormous half in placing Bangladesh on the soccer fandom map.
“Nowadays, any publish or video can go viral,” he stated. “You by no means know. I don’t assume Bangladesh would have gotten the eye of Argentina or the entire world if FIFA didn’t share that video – a minimum of of this scale.”
“In any case, Bangladeshis have been supporting Argentina because the Maradona magic in 1986,” Mehedi stated.
Soccer legends Diego Maradona of Argentina and Pele of Brazil are family names in South Asian international locations akin to Bangladesh. Expatriates from the area, who type a big chunk of Qatar’s inhabitants, have rallied behind Latin American international locations, primarily Brazil and Argentina, within the present World Cup.
Soccer’s historical past within the Bengali-speaking area of the Indian subcontinent goes again to the late nineteenth century when its British colonial rulers launched the game in Calcutta, then the capital of British India and now Kolkata, Bengal state’s major metropolis.
The jap a part of Bengal turned a part of Pakistan in 1947 when the Indian subcontinent achieved independence from Britain. However almost three many years later, East Pakistan, because it was recognized then, seceded to grow to be Bangladesh.
The ‘M issue’
Soccer’s reputation rose in Bangladesh within the mid-Nineteen Eighties after televisions turned extensively out there, and the primary World Cup that almost all Bangladeshis watched was the one in 1986, journalist Syed Faiz Ahmed stated.
“The 1986 World Cup additionally noticed the emergence of a superhero – Diego Maradona,” Ahmed stated. “Individuals have been looking for such a soccer deity, and the Argentine maestro fulfilled it together with his beautiful type, revolutionary air and great ardour.”
He stated Bangladeshis’ love for Maradona and Argentina continued despite the fact that the Albicelestes haven’t gained one other World Cup since then.
Bangladeshis’ assist for Argentina has risen to a brand new stage because the arrival of Lionel Messi, Ahmed stated
Sports activities commentator Shahnoor Rabbani instructed Al Jazeera that their love for Messi even supersedes that for Maradona.
“It's because individuals now can observe and watch European membership soccer all by the yr and even the non-public lifetime of stars like Messi by social media,” he stated.
“You can't however fall in love with Messi when you love soccer,” Rabbani stated. “He's arguably the best participant of all time, and he not having a World Cup is a loss for soccer.”
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