Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby, the captain of the Bangladesh Under-19 cricket team, mimicked Lionel Messi’s well-known victory celebration at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar the previous year when the Young Tigers became victorious in the ACC U-19 Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday.
It seemed as though Rabby was paying tribute to Messi nearly precisely a year after Argentina’s World Cup victory as he pranced the last few steps before joining his team and raising the trophy to begin the celebration after accepting it from ACC president Jay Shah.
However, Rabby said that his intention was to make his colleagues laugh rather than copy Messi after the victorious team arrived home today.
“I wasn’t behind anybody, sorry. Actually, I’m rooting for Brazil. My colleagues love the Messi celebration, so I participated in it. “I don’t support Argentina,” Rabby declared to the press at Mirpur.
After winning the trophy, Messi is known for never taking it from his sight. A photo of him dozing off with the trophy at his side went viral on social media the day following the final.
According to Rabby, he slept with the Asia Cup trophy in his hotel room last night as well.
“Yes, without a doubt. I had the prize with me. I had a lot of trouble the two nights before the championship game. I held onto it after we won.”