A remarkable 2-2 draw, more than 16 yellow cards, an edge-of-the-seat penalty shootout, and finally a thumping victory for Argentina — the Netherlands vs Argentina FIFA World Cup quarter-final match on December 10, Saturday (IST), was nothing short of a feast for football lovers across the world. But for 13-year-old Nibras from Trikaripur of Kerala’s Kasaragod, a die-hard fan of the Argentina team, the euphoria was tinged with a sprinkling of sweet revenge.
Days after a video of the heartbroken boy tearing up as Argentina lost their first match to Saudi Arabia went viral, Nibras was now watching his favourite players’ game unfold in person, directly from the gallery of Qatar’s Lusail Stadium. Raising the Argentine flag as loud cheers of “Messi, Messi” reverberated through the stadium, he once again had tears in his eyes — happy ones this time, because Argentine goalkeeper Damián Emiliano Martínez had just made two sensational saves in the penalty shootout.
After the match between Argentina and Saudi Arabia on November 22, which the latter won two to one, a video of a tearful Nibras — trying to hold his own amid a group of people teasing him over the team’s failure — was soon doing the rounds on social media. In the video, Nibras can be seen telling those around him that “this was just one game, there are more matches to come,” before bursting into tears.
After the video went viral, a Payyannur-based travel agency, Smart Travel, offered to sponsor Nibras’s trip to Qatar, watch a match involving Argentina, and stay in the Gulf country for two days. Speaking to the media earlier, Nibras had said that he was initially angry his friends shot the video without his knowledge and put it out in the public. But the subsequent offer from the travel agency to take him to Qatar was enough and more reason for him to forgive them.
Nibras reached Qatar on Thursday and was welcomed by representatives of the agency. On the very next day, he watched his hero and Argentina’s star captain Lionel Messi play live. Even better, his favourite team went on to win what can only be called a sensational game. What more could the boy have asked for!