<i>'Eita ki chhilo!'</i>

Crowds gather outside the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday ahead of the Argentina-Nigeria international friendly. Such colourful crowds at a football game is rare in this country and it was a happy day for the sport. Photo: Rashed Sumon

The day had finally arrived. Cricket may be the dominant sport in the country, but nothing quite stirs passions among Bangladeshi sports fans as football does -- a fact evidenced by the wild frenzy during the football World Cup in which Bangladesh are not even participants. And during the football World Cup, it is the flag of Argentina along with Brazil's that colour the streets and home of the country.
And that it was Argentina playing a friendly against Nigeria on Bangladesh soil, that too with the world's best player leading them, stirred passions to a fever pitch as thousands flocked to the Bangabandhu National Stadium to be a part of Bangladeshi sporting history.
The sight of the approaching Argentine team bus only heightened the mania as the crowd converged to catch a glimpse of their heroes, especially the FIFA World player of the Year Lionel Messi.
A police officer, who stepped through the crowd seemingly to blow his whistle to calm the over-excited crowd, could only smile and wave at his hero when he spied the man from Rosario at the back of the bus. The Messi-induced delirium overpowered all in its wake; not even police officers were safe.
The arena was more than half full an hour before the scheduled 7:00pm start, and the assembled fanatics did not have to wait too long before they could give full voice to their support as first the Nigerians and then the Argentines trotted onto the field. Bangladeshis have always had a soft corner for the Albicelestes, but the Messi mania had to be seen to be believed. Even during the warm-ups, let alone the match proper, chants of 'Messi, Messi' rang around the Big Bowl whenever the ball was at his feet.
The atmosphere was electric throughout the 90 minutes of play, but never more during Messi's moment of magic when he left at least four Nigerians in the dust to conjure the second goal off teammate Di Maria's boot. As he progressed more than half the stadium got up from their seats with hands on heads, with most exploding into incredulous cries of 'Eita ki chilo?' ('What was that?') when the magic was complete.
And fittingly for a high-profile international football match, there was at least one boisterous Englishman in the crowd. That Chris Macalay was welcomed with open arms by the mostly Bangladeshi crowd had as much to do with his friendly nature as the Bangladesh cricket jersey he was wearing. His loud voice was put to great effect as he single-handedly started several Mexican waves with his best efforts at Bangla. The crowd warmed to him immediately.
The Nigerian contingent did not go unrepresented. The 50-odd Nigerians who have flown in from around the world put their best foot forward in support of their team with a rousing African traditional dance routine that must have given the Super Eagles some much-needed boost in the face of overwhelming Argentine support.
The most pleasing thing, especially for those who have been witness to the partisan mood during Abahani-Mohammedan games, was the sporting atmosphere. Though most of the screaming voices shouted support for the Argentines, the Nigerians were not begrudged their moments, like the goal immediately after half time. And there were pockets of support for the Nigerians too, but that may have been from Brazil fans.