A letter from Argentina: Thank you, Bangladesh, for so much passion

More than 16,000 kilometres separate the cities of Buenos Aires and Dhaka, the capitals of Argentina and Bangladesh. Two very different countries, but with the same passion: football.

The Bangalee people should know that this third championship for the Argentines brings us joy in the midst of so much sadness and restlessness caused by the political class of our country. Everyone has a certain degree of responsibility for the high rates of poverty, unemployment, and insecurity.

Sunday was a day to celebrate, to forget even for a few hours about all the problems that afflict us on a daily basis – the problems that have their roots in the greed of unscrupulous politicians.

It was and is a time to hug our families and friends to celebrate. That is why, from a distance, we Argentines must embrace the Bangladeshis, and thank them for the unconditional support they have shown to our team. Support that I hope will be rewarded, sportingly, both by the fans and by the leaders of Argentine football.

Until this World Cup, we knew little or nothing about Bangladesh, so during the World Cup, we began to search for information and learn more about this Asian country of barely 148,000 sq-km, with a population of over 165 million.

We were unaware that Argentines such as Héctor Parodi, Mariano Caporale, Luciano Theiler, Hernán Barcos and Raúl Becerra had spent time in the Bangladesh league at some point in their careers. We were also unaware that Ariel Colman had been a physical trainer for that country's team.

The word "Bangladesh" only took us back to two things. One was the benefit concert that was organised in 1971 by George Harrison, with the participation of Bob Dylan, Ravi Shankar, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Billy Preston, among others. The other is an Argentine rock song called "No te enamores nunca de aquel marinero bengalí (Don't ever fall in love with that Bangalee sailor)," by the group Los Abuelos de la Nada.

The easy and quick access to information that the internet allows us, enabled us, among other things, to discover that the love and passion that the Bangladeshis feel for our team did not start on September 6, 2011, when Argentina and Nigeria faced each other in a friendly match at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka. On that occasion, Argentina defeated Nigeria 3-1, and Lionel Messi was applauded by the public.

To understand the madness that the Bangalees manifested throughout this World Cup for our players and especially for Messi, we Argentines should have read a little about the history of Bangladesh, about its independence from Pakistan in 1971 and, above all, about its years as part of a territory that was under occupation and domination of the United Kingdom until 1947. Just like our Malvinas Islands (Falkland Islands) have been since 1833.

A common feeling towards British politics made the Bangalees feel close to the Argentines, especially on June 22, 1986, when Argentina faced England in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Mexico and defeated them with two goals from Diego Maradona, who surely today would be proud of the Bangalee people and would appreciate so much fervour for the light blue and white.

Love that should be rewarded by the Argentines in the next qualifying rounds, with the hope that the Bangladeshi team will qualify for their first World Cup.

A sporting achievement that, if it comes to fruition, I hope will not be used politically as is usually done in Argentina. In 1978, the military dictatorship with the approval of FIFA organised a World Cup in the country, and we were champions for the first time. Then, after the 1986 title and the 1990 sub-championship, the Argentine teams were received at the Casa Rosada by the then Argentine Presidents, Raúl Alfonsín and Carlos Menem, respectively. This time, it did not happen, at least for the moment, but President Alberto Fernández decided to decree a national holiday for the team to celebrate with the people. Celebration that was chaotic due to its disorganisation and the large number of people. Some sources estimate more than four million people had come out to the streets to celebrate.

As Argentina advanced in the tournament, the government informed, through the foreign ministry, that it wanted to reopen its embassy in Bangladesh to increase the bilateral relationship between the two countries, mainly in the commercial aspect that has great potential for growth.

In 1978, the former de facto President Jorge Rafael Videla was the one who closed our embassy in Dhaka, which had been inaugurated on October 30, 1973, with a decree of President Juan Domingo Perón.

The current Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero recalled that in August, he held a meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart, AK Abdul Momen, at the UN's 10th Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and stressed that they had added USD 876 million in exports to Bangladesh in 2021 – an all-time high.

That is why Cafiero has already confirmed that he will visit Dhaka on the occasion of the reopening of the Argentine diplomatic headquarters in Bangladesh, after participating in the next G20 Foreign Ministers' Summit to be held in India in 2023.

Fernando José Kohutiak is a journalist and magister in international relations in Argentina.