KOZHIKODE: When Lionel Messi is being widely appreciated for the glorious victory of Argentina in the football World Cup in Qatar after a gap of 36 years, an eighth grader from Trikaripur in Kasaragod is busy moving from one venue to the other attending receptions. Nibras Maniyanodi, whose bursting into tears caught the attention of social media, is now back from Qatar after watching the tournament live.
It was after the video went viral that a Payyannur-based travel agency, Smart Travel, gave a surprise to Nibras with a ticket to Qatar to watch his favourite team and its captain Lionel Messi play.
In the video, Nibras tells his friends, who trolled him, that Argentina is going to come back as there are more matches to be played. He also predicted that Messi will go on to score a hat-trick. Neither Nibras nor his friends expected the video to have such an impact. But just like Nibras’ prediction, Argentina registered a tremendous victory.
Talking to TNIE, Nibras said, “Though I was crying after Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia in the first match, I was sure that Messi and his team will make a massive comeback and will lift the golden cup. Even now tears fill my eyes as Argentina lifts the cup, but this time it is the tears of happiness.”
In the finals, Nibras shouted the name of his favourite player Messi as loud as possible. His parents and Nibras arranged a grand party in his house with crackers, sweets and lot more things to celebrate the victory. He watched the finals along with his friends, neighbours and his family members, who are now treating him as a celebrity of the house and the village.
Nibras, who himself is a key football player for his school and local club teams, learned to play the game at a very young age. Since he started watching matches on TV, Messi and Argentina have been close to his heart.