Screams of joy, bursting of firecrackers, shouts of “Messi”, blowing of trumpets and horns were how thousands of Malayalees across Kerala celebrated Argentina’s penalty shootout win over France in the 2022 football World Cup final on Sunday night. “We said we (Argentina) will win. Argentina created history. Messi ki jai,” jubilant fans were shown shouting in TV channels.

“Neymar came, Ronaldo came, but it was Messi who walked away with the Cup,” some others said. There were celebrations on the streets in several towns, cities and villages of the southern state as the South American team defeated France in the penalty shootout after 120minutes of play resulted in a 3-3 scorecard.

“Vamos,” fans, donning the Argentina jersey, were seen shouting as they jumped up and down and danced around with each other unable to contain their joy. Be it the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram or the port city of Kochi or Malappuram in the north of Kerala, similar celebrations by fans of Argentina and Messi could be seen.

Some soccer fans were too excited to even answer reporters’ queries on how they were feeling and just responded with screams and incoherent shouts.