Kottayam: The body of a 30-year-old Lionel Messi fan, who went missing since his team lost to Croatia in the World Cup on Thursday, was found from a river on Sunday morning.

The body of Dinu Alex, who hailed from Arumanoor — a hamlet on the banks of River Meenachil near Kottayam — was found in the same river at Illikkal.

Alex had been missing ever since the Latin American team lost a group stage match to Croatia in the FIFA World Cup on Friday morning.

He left behind a suicide note in Malayalam that read: “Nothing is left in this World for me to watch. I am walking towards death… Nobody is responsible for my death.”

Alex, who never played football, followed all the major league matches and was a die-hard Messi fan. He worked as an accountant in a private firm and had told his colleagues before the match that Argentina would win and his hero would score.

“I saw him watching the match at 11.30pm. We learnt that he used to tell his friends that he would be ashamed to go out and face others if Argentina loses,” PV Alexander, the deceased’s father, told the media.

The family realised that Alex was missing when his mother came to his room at around 5.30am on Friday but he was not there. She then woke up her husband. “When we searched his room, we found the suicide note,” said Alexander, who also alerted the police. A jersey of Argentina and a mobile phone cover with Messi’s picture was also found from his room.

Alex, a bachelor, was shortlisted in some of the examinations of the State Public Service Commission and was awaiting recruitment.