The massive celebrations in Bangladesh for the victories of Argentina in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar were reciprocated by the fans from Albicelestes with creating a support Facebook group to cricket pick of the Asian country, which this Friday already had around 145,000 members.
“In the last few weeks we have seen a lot of videos of Bangladesh in Argentina, people with Argentine flags and shirts, who came out to celebrate and watch the games. They supported our team as if they were Argentines, they were a parallel Argentina”explained to the AFP agency Dan Landethe creator of the Facebook group.
“There was so much love that moved us and I felt that in some way we had to thank those gestures. When the World Cup started I joined several Facebook groups of fans of Argentina in Bangladesh. So it occurred to me to make a group of Argentine fans of Bangladesh, as a reciprocity with the sport that is important to them”, pointed out this thirty-something economist from Buenos Aires and writer of travels around the world.
The group was created a week ago, shortly before the Argentina-Australia round of 16 match, and it continues to add members.
Bangladesh is 192 out of 211 countries in the FIFA ranking, but in cricket it moves between seventh and ninth place in the rankings of this sport.
The first day 30,000 joined and they already have more than 150,000 members.
Dan Lande and the creation of the group made headlines even in the Bangladeshi press.
“I don’t know anything about cricket. I like football. I think I only saw a cricket match once, when I was traveling in Sri Lanka. But I don’t understand the rules, I don’t know how to play it. The idea of cricket fans It was symbolic, it started almost as a joke”, he admitted.
And added: “But if in Bangladesh they are fans of our football, we have to be fans of their cricket.. The Facebook group was filled with Argentines, no one understands the sport, but that’s the least of it, the important thing is the bonds of friendship,” he said.
The group was echoed in Bangladesh and thousands of members who interact with Argentines also arrived from there. They also take the opportunity to share images of the Asian country, its culture, its gastronomy and its customs.
“If in Bangladesh they are fans of our football, we have to be fans of their cricket. The Facebook group was filled with Argentines, none of them understand the sport, but that’s the least of it, the important thing is the bonds of friendship.”Dan Lande
Gul Ahmed Talukdar Rubel, a member of the group “Argentinian fans of the Bangladesh cricket team,” he posted a photo and commented: “The person in this photo is my uncle. He is a die-hard fan of Messi and Argentina as you can see his house colored with the Argentinian flag.” .
For his part, Mohammad Sami shared a photo of “an Argentine flag ship, love from Bangladesh.”
Alejandra, from Gualeguaychú, Entre Ríos, wrote: “Hello beautiful people of Bangladesh, can someone write my name with the alphabet you use? Those characters are beautiful, can you tell me the history and evolution of your writing?
Zubair Khan, explained in Spanish that his language “is called “Bangla”. It is approximately a thousand years old. The only nation that fought and died for the language in 1952 (February 21). In honor of this, Unesco proclaimed February 21. February as International Mother Language Day.
Maximiliano published a photo of the tattoo of the Bangladeshi flag on his arm and posted that “what was promised is a debt. Now I have them under my skin. Love is paid with love. Greetings from Rosario, city of Messi, Argentina.”
One of the Bangladeshis who joined is Khandkar Mehdi Tushar, a 22-year-old university student from Dhaka, wrote: “I heard about the opening of the group online and I joined. We are two different countries but with the same soul. We are brothers and sisters. I would like relations between Bangladesh and Argentina to develop,” said this fan of the Scaleneta who participated in the massive festivities in Dhaka and other cities in the country.
“I always put the Argentine flag on the roof of our house and I always wear the shirt” to watch the games, he said.
Finally, he assured that this Friday he will do it again to see the quarterfinals against the Netherlands team.
