WILL HE FIRE OR BACKFIRE?: Argentina’s maverick coach Diego Maradona with his star player Lionel Messi at a practice session

If “M” was the factor in the civic poll, “M & M” seem to have pulled Argentina ahead of Brazil in the World Cup popularity stakes in soccer-crazy Calcutta.

“I want Maradona on my chest and the names of Messi and the other 22 members of the Argentina squad on the back of my jersey,” 25-year-old Sanjeev Rakshit tells Maidan Market artist Ishtiaq Ahmed alias Pappu, who uses stencils and quick-drying paint to enliven team jerseys with revered names and magic numbers.

A grumble greets Sanjeev’s request, not from Pappu but members of a Kidderpore club who have been waiting to whisk him away to their para to work on a hundred giant Argentina flags, each 20ft long.

“The Calcuttan’s heart is where Diego Maradona is. So what if he is not playing? He is the coach,” says Sanjeev, a trader from Gangulybagan, explaining why Argentina rather than traditional favourite Brazil is on more lips this time.

“Of every 100 jerseys we are selling, 70 are of Argentina. Messi’s Barcelona shirt is a hot-seller, as are those with his face printed on them. Argentina’s M&M magic has caught the imagination of the city,” says Sujit Shukla of Reliable Sports, at Maidan Market.

So where does that leave Brazil in the Calcutta soccer stakes?

“Every World Cup year, the sale of Brazil and Argentina merchandise is more or less neck and neck. But things are different this time. Argentina’s fan following seems to have skyrocketed since Maradona’s visit to the city (in late 2008),” says Sheikh Azhar, who sells flags and jerseys.

Pappu has procured stencils of the exact numerical characters being printed on the Brazil jerseys this time but it’s “Messi” that he is writing more on shirts purchased by fans. Not that he minds as long as business is good, wherever in Latin America it comes from.

Sanjeev’s Argentina jersey cost him Rs 160, but he needs to pay Pappu nearly four times more — Rs 630 at the rate of Rs 2 a letter — to add “Maradona” in bold and 23 other names.

Maradona the maverick and Messi the magician are in fine form in the branded jersey market as well. “Of the 11 teams whose jerseys Adidas is sponsoring, Argentina is the top draw by a distance in Calcutta followed by Spain and Germany,” says a retailer of the global brand.

According to a spokesperson for Nike, Brazil and Portugal jerseys priced at Rs 2,795 each are selling well. The message for M&M: don’t write off Kaka or Cristiano Ronaldo, just yet.