Messi fever grips Dhaka

September 6th, 2011 - 8:53 pm ICT by IANS  

Sheikh Hasina Dhaka, Sep 6 (IANS) Messi fever seems to have gripped the Bangladesh capital where Argentina plays a FIFA friendly international against Nigeria.

Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi along with his team arrived here Monday. They are staying at the capital’s Ruposhi Bangla hotel that has been suitably decked up.

A small football goalpost greets visitors at the hotel foyer.

That’s not all.

There are large cut-outs of Lionel Messi and people wearing Messi T-shirts.

An employee manning a coffee vending machine wears Messi’s blue-striped number 10 T-shirt.

On Monday, hundreds of fans gathered outside the airport to welcome Messi and his team.

Argentina is a two-time World Cup champion and they play against Nigeria Tuesday at Bangabandhu National Stadium.

TV channels showed the palpable excitement at the stadium with the packed crowd cheering loudly.

Messi and his team had earlier played a friendly in Kolkata where they beat Venezuela 1-0.

The football match here takes place on a day when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh were meeting to discuss bilateral issues.

People, however, were glued to their TV sets, preferring to watch the little master weave his magic on the football field.

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