The last time Lionel Messi came to Calcutta, the Argentine, then 24, was a Barcelona star, with a couple of Ballon D’Or trophies. It was here at the Salt Lake Stadium under new coach Alejandro Sabella, Messi wore the captain’s armband as Argentina began their quest for their third World Cup crown.
The occasion was the international friendly against Venezuela at the ‘old’ Salt Lake Stadium where more than 80,000 spectators were treated to his dazzling skills. Argentina won the friendly 1-0 with Nicolas Otamendi’s strike making the difference.
Fourteen years have gone by, and now, in the twilight of his career, the 38-year-old Messi returns to the same ground on Saturday morning. As the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time, and the name of his whirlwind blink-and-miss tour) and as a World Cup-winning captain.
Unlike that September 2 evening when he set the Salt Lake Stadium grass ablaze, this time, Messi will not be playing the game he loves. Instead, he will watch an exhibition match, share the space with chief minister Mamata Banerjee and two superstars, Shah Rukh Khan and Sourav Ganguly. In total, from the time he lands in Calcutta in the early hours of Saturday, Messi will be in the city for a little more than 12 hours.
In Mumbai, there will be more celebrities on show. John Abraham, Tiger Shroff, besides a fashion show. In New Delhi, a planned meeting with Narendra Modi may not happen as the Prime Minister will be on a four-day visit to Jordan, Ethiopia and Oman.
But Minerva Academy’s budding footballers, who swept the Gothia Cup, Dana Cup and Norway Cup earlier this year, will be felicitated in his presence. A nine-a-side celebrity match will also be held in the national capital.
“Lest we forget, 2011 was the first time Calcutta saw him as a player and it will remain the only time he ever played in this city,” Bhaswar Goswami, director of Celebrity Management Group, the company which brought Diego Maradona in 2008 and Messi’s Argentina in 2011, said on Friday. “He was a superstar by then. Now he is in a different league.”
CMG had to spend $4.5 million to get that international friendly organised.
“Fourteen years back, it was a huge amount,” Goswami remembered.
Messi arrives with his World Cup-winning teammate Rodrigo De Paul and Uruguay’s super sniper, Luis Suarez. All three are fresh from their maiden MLS Cup glory, with David Beckham co-owned Inter Miami.
From Calcutta, Messi goes to Hyderabad and then off for a Sunday date with Mumbai before wowing the New Delhi crowd a day later. In 2011, he had come straight from Barcelona with his clubmate Javier Mascherano and a double in the 5-0 rout of Villarreal. Mascherano is now his coach at Inter Miami.
Messi’s visit comes at a time when Indian football is in the middle of a major crisis. It’s mid-December, and there is no time frame on when the league will start; players and members of the support staff are staring at a bleak future; and the national team failed to qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup final round from a group they were expected to sail through. Then these are things that hardly bother the people who are paying an exorbitant amount to grab a ticket for a glimpse of the legend. ₹2.5 lakh for a prime seat at the Kotla in the capital, ₹18,000 for a vantage point at the Salt Lake Stadium.
“It is such an honour for me to make this trip. India is a very special country, and I have good memories from my time there 14 years ago — the fans were fantastic,” Messi had said in an official statement in October. “India is a passionate football nation, and I look forward to meeting a new generation of fans while sharing the love I have for this beautiful game.”
Messi’s visit will be beamed across 26 channels in the country, and the production company, entrusted with the job, is leaving no stone unturned to make it a grand show. Only glitch is the meastro will not be playing. He will showcase Brand Messi.
