Thousands of people, mostly immigrants from Kerala, a state of southern India, make up “Argentina Fans Qatar”, a group of supporters of the Argentine national team who set out to make him feel “at home” at the headquarters of the Qatar World Cup 2022.
Eleven days after Argentina’s debut at the World Cup, a multitude of fans with the Albiceleste colors paraded in Doha, but they are not Argentine fans who will go to the World Cup, but they are members of “Argentine fans of Qatar”a kind of “Argentine rock” in the Middle East.
It was a large banner in the Flag Square in Dohawhich is assumed to be the nerve center where fans will gather during the competition.
as he told you Suhail Ali -one of the founding members- a Telamthis group was officially created last May with the residents of Qatar who for “years” have felt fanaticism for the Argentine team.
“Most of the founding members come from Kerala, India’s southernmost state, where football is celebrated with the utmost passion. We have all followed football since our childhood. Kerala He became interested in Latin American football years ago and Argentina is one of his favorite teams, “explained Suhail at the start of this” madness “for the Argentine team, despite being 15,000 kilometers away.
In recent days, members of the Argentine fan group in Kerala have put on a gigantogram of Leone Messi in the middle of a river and filled the streets with banners that alluded to the Argentine team.
“Surely the love for Messi is beyond words, as he is the best footballer today. However, we all grew up listening to Diego Maradona and its beautiful story, “he added.
“And we started watching football in our childhood with (Gabriel) Batistuta and (Ariel) Ortega,” said one of the leaders of the group who emigrated to Qatar and was able to gather a large group of fans that also includes members of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and also by Argentine residents in Qatar.
“As the first and largest group of fans in Qatar, we certainly have a lot of plans, but we also want to meet the team and our players, which would be a dream come true for all of us,” admitted Suhail.
Not all members (each with a card with photo and personal data) have managed to get tickets for the matches of the team selected in the group stage but they will support you wherever they have to make noise, sing songs and always with the “albiceleste” shirt put.
On October 28th “Argentina Fans Qatar” organized an event at the renowned Aspire Academy in Doha called “Fans’ Night”, with nearly four thousand people.
“The feeling is a mixture of pride and emotion. Seeing so many people, families and children who have nothing to do with Argentina and have no relationship with the country but feel a great fervor for the selected team, is really exciting. “, said the Argentine ambassador to Qatar, Guillermo Nicolás, in dialogue with Télam.
“It is difficult for me to summarize it, but it was a great thrill for me to see all of this, and how excited they are for Argentina, all of them with their jersey. It was impressive,” explained Nicolás.
For a matter of time, the fans were unable to receive the advanced squad of the Argentine team that was installed on Monday at the University of Qatar, but they have promised that the team and the fans who travel to Qatar will feel “at home”. “
With information from Telam
Source: Clarin
