Thiruvananthapuram: A youth in Kerala, heart-broken by Argentina’s crushing 0-3 loss to Croatia in the ongoing football World Cup has gone missing after leaving a note. He was a diehard fan of the Argentina football team.
Dinu Alex, 30, a native of Arumanur near Ayarkunnam in Kottayam district went missing early on Friday morning after watching the Argentina-Croatia match which began half an hour before midnight. It is estimated that he may have left home by 5am on Friday.
A note found at his home indicated that he was leaving home because of Argentina’s painful loss to Croatia.
It was not clear whether he intended to take his life over his team’s dismal defeat and likely elimination from the World Cup, but a search was immediately launched for him in the Meenachil river that flows close by his home.
The river has a strong current due to the monsoons that have been lashing the state for over a month.
World Cup football has a strong following in Kerala, where fans — particularly in the Malabar region — have put giant flex boards of their favourite teams, complete with praises for their teams and warning those who oppose them. This time flex boards have come up in paddy fields and backwaters, too.
Brazil and Argentina have traditionally had the largest number of followers and the number of hoardings put up this time for these two teams prove that the fan-following trends have not changed this time either.
In a school in Edarikode in Malappuram, teachers held an exhibition match on Thursday, ahead of the Argentina-Croatia clash in Russia.
On social media, football fans were hoping for a Argentina-Brazil clash, which they say will be 'god’s own final'.
