Calcutta: A slice of Bagha Jatin turned into Buenos Aires on Saturday evening. A group of employees in an architecture firm in Ballygunge, clad in blue and white shirts, were glued to a 43-inch screen normally used for video-conferencing with clients.

The day ended in heartbreak for the Argentina fans but the see-saw match did not have a dull moment

" Khela onek baki ache (there's a lot left in the match)," Somnath Majumdar assured fellow supporters after Antoine Griezmann converted a penalty for France in the 13th minute. Majumdar, 55, who owns a stationery shop in Ganguly Bagan's Rabindra Palli, was watching the match on a giant screen in a shamiana.

The shamiana stood on a small ground and an adjacent lane. It was a festival of colours with miniature flags of most teams hanging from the canopy. The walls and the canopy were made of blue and white cloth - the Argentine colours. Some 100 people gathered to watch the match, half of them seated.

Among them was Indravash Chowdhury, who had come with a group of friends. The 27-year-old had invited his friends to his house in the locality for a "soccer party".

"We will watch the Portugal-Uruguay match at our place. But we wanted to watch the Argentina match here, in this atmosphere," said Indravash.

A left-footer by Angel Di Maria beat the French goalkeeper and the noise hit the roof. Kids started dancing on the chairs and whistling. A man started beating a kansor and another started blowing a plastic horn.

A few kilometres away on Ballygunge Circular Road, the atmosphere in the conference room of Innate, a company of architects, planners and engineers, was no different. Of the nine people who were watching the match on a TV in the room, all but two were Argentina supporters.

"I grew up in a family where everyone was mad about Maradona. No wonder I am one as well," said Alokananda Mukherjee. His husband, who swears by Lionel Messi, had his jamai-sashthi treat lined up after the match. He eventually went with a sour mood.