Fans gathered at the river near Pullavoor village where now-famous cutouts of Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar have been erected.
Houses in Argentine colours, huge cutouts of Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr and Cristiano Ronaldo, and fans donning jerseys of their favourite soccer teams are on display in various parts of Kerala, which is in the grip of a football frenzy as the 2022 World Cup commences on Sunday, 20 November, in Qatar.
Fans of Argentina, Brazil and Portugal are geared up to follow their favourite teams and players.
In Mallappuzhassery village of Pathanamthitta district, fans are not only donning their favourite teams’ jerseys, they have also put up streamers in the colours of Argentina and Brazil and several have even painted their houses in the Argentine colour of blue and white.
Fans of both South American teams passionately claimed that their team would take home the World Cup this year.
Cristiano Ronaldo craze in kerala
📍Kedamangalam, North Paravur, Ernakulam
"Forca Portugal" 🇵🇹@portugal #portugalfamilykerala #portugal #portugalfootball #qatar #qatar2022 #fifaworldcup #worldcup #portugalfans #thistimeforportugal #forcaportugal #Ronaldo #CR7𓃵 pic.twitter.com/iMocsdaCbA
— subin (@Subin_offl) November 16, 2022
In Kozhikode, fans of Argentina and Brazil gathered this morning at the bridge over the river in Pullavoor village where huge cutouts of Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar Jr have been erected on an islet.
The cutouts had garnered global attention recently with FIFA tweeting a picture of the same and saying that world cup “fever has hit Kerala”.
Football lovers from the village said that they have put up a 15 feet wide and 10 feet tall screen and made other arrangements for at least a thousand people to watch the world cup matches.
In Kasaragod, fans not only installed huge cut outs of Messi and Ronaldo but also of Qatar ruler — Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani — with fans of both Argentina and Portugal gathered underneath them, donning jerseys of their favourite teams.
#football fans from #Kerala cheering for Argentina in Qatar. It's a dream moment from lakhs of Mallus employed in the GCC. @NewIndianXpress @FIFAWorldCup #footballfamily pic.twitter.com/gVM90Ge3n4
— Manoj Viswanathan (@Manojexpress) November 15, 2022
In Eachur village of Kannur district, fans of Brazil and Argentina also organised a goal scoring event by setting up a scaled-down version of goalposts.
However, neither side managed to score a single goal, according to the visuals.
Similar scenes of excitement and celebrations, including setting up huge screens to watch the various matches were witnessed from other parts of the state, which is known for its love for the sport.