Jamal Bhuyan, the captain of the Bangladesh National Football team, and Anisur Rahman Zico, the goalkeeper, expressed regret over not meeting Argentina World Cup winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. After surpassing expectations and reaching the semis of the SAFF Championship 2023, Jamal and Zico were filled with embarrassment and sadness as they returned from India.  Despite their strong showings in the SAFF tournament, the Bangladesh Football Federation was not present to welcome them. Emiliano Martinez, Argentina’s World Cup Winning Goalkeeper, To Visit Mohun Bagan as Part of His Kolkata Tour.

Emiliano Martinez was on route to the airport for his flight to India around the same time as the national team footballers returned. After finding out Emiliano Martinez  was on his way, the Bangladesh footballers eagerly awaited his arrival. Bangladesh's football captain found himself embroiled in an embarrassing scene.

As Emiliano Martínez’s entourage took him straight to the airport, the captain stood outside the car with Emiliano Martínez in it but couldn't meet him. Several members of the Bangladesh football management called Emiliano Martínez and tried to tell him that the captain of Bangladesh football team was right there, but it did not work.

As a result of the whole situation, social media went wild, and many questioned how much importance is actually placed on the Bangladeshi football team and its players. In reality, Emiliano Martinez's visit had little to do with football, raising the question of how much attention is paid to the footballers on the Bangladesh national team.

To demonstrate how much passion there is in Bangladesh for Argentina's football team and football in general, it was a closed event without fanfare. There is some debate about whether the organisers made the right decision by scheduling politicians and social media influencers over players or aspiring footballers to meet Emiliano Martinez.

Many people wanted Emiliano Martínez to be introduced in front of the crowd so he could have a better idea of the passion around football in Bangladesh. It remains unclear whether more could have been done to promote the event, even though the organisers were from Kolkata.

Bangladeshi football has often been overshadowed by politics, and whether the World Cup-winning goalkeeper's visit will help Bangladeshi football is an open question. A visit that began with hope and hype from fans ended with a damp note, illustrating how minor Bangladeshi football is and how little importance footballers are given.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 05, 2023 07:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).