Lionel Messi in India: A night to remember

As I got up to put my wallet in my pant pocket and sat down my chair, I heard a coin fall down. So I went down to pick it up but could not reach it. I called out to this guy but he was paying so much attention to what was going on in front of his eyes that he could barely move a muscle. You are probably picturing me sitting inside a classroom with an enterprising teacher talking about an interesting concept, right? Wrong! I would recommend that you stop guessing further if you again thought of this setting to be a musical concert. I do not blame you for your incorrect guesses; with all the coin-drop silence and the totally absent-minded audience. But believe me, when I say that this was the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata seating more than 80,000 spectators with a football match transpiring down there at the centre.

City of Joy Welcomes the God

I had planned to go and watch this game long before ticket sales had begun and the hype and expectations were building up enormously. Even the disappointing performance of Argentina at the recently held Copa America did not capsize my level of interest. I took my father along with me to watch this spectacle as I had already missed out on that opportunity when I watched the Albicelestes play South Korea in Johannesburg during the 2010 World Cup. The flight to Kolkata left early in the morning from Chennai and to my amazement, the entire flight was filled with people of all ages and genders sporting a Messi Jersey either that of FCB or Argentina. The person sitting next to me was travelling from this Tier – II city called Madurai with around 15 members of his family. However the more surprising part came up next when he said that his son was named Messi. We touched down at Subhash Chandra Bose International Terminal and immediately started taking a few snaps in front of a Messi banner at the airport. After having lunch at our relative’s place, we set out to the stadium well ahead of time so that we could catch a glimpse of the warm up and training sessions of the Argentines. The entire city was painted blue & white with Auto rickshaws embellished with the national flag of Argentina and cars decorated with petals of blue flowers. The stadium had arrived and we walked in and climbed onto the middle tier only to be visually enthralled by the majestic structure. The stands were getting filled up and finally with an hour to go for the start of the match the gladiators of football began their march onto the pitch with the crowd giving them a resounding applause.

The blue & white brigade

Within a short-while the kick-off took place and it was a historic moment that we were witnessing. This was the first FIFA international friendly in India and both the teams had put their top-notch sides on the field. It was a little disturbing to see that one of the stands was barely full and the total audience was just around 80,000 in a stadium with capacity of over 1 lakh people. Within a few minutes, the ball reached the feet of the master and there was a quick dribble and a turn near the dug-out and the crowd went berserk with that piece of magic. I immediately felt that I had already got some action of my money’s worth. It did not stop there, as the men in blue & white dribbled and passed with finesse and had a handful of chances within the first quarter of the game. Imagine this article of mine was a skillfully written movie and now that I am taking you back to the opening scene of the movie, you will find that I talked about the inexplicable silence in the football stadium. A few ‘bongs’ sitting next to us explained that the decibel levels during a match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal would be deafening. Then as I watched Messi slalom through many more defenders, the spectators once again started chanting their ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’. It was at this time that I realized that the crowd was emphatically silent as all their attention was on tracking the movement of La Pulga, and as soon as the ball reached his feet their excitement levels shot up the roof. I had just not seen anything like this. When I compare this to the audience of the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg, the 96,000 Argentina fans were just boisterous throughout the match with no particular idol-worship or captivation shown for Messi.

The magician all alone in the corner of excellence

The Venezuelans had quite the fight in them too and they kept trying some long rangers but it was not good enough because of the sharp reflexes of Sergio Romero. The second half was once again interspersed with some brilliant midfield play by leo, but the shortcomings of the team came into play time and again. Most of the goals scored by Messi for FC Barcelona are by products of scintillating one-touch football, and even from a seat in the stadium it is blatantly clear that the Argentines were nowhere near the skill of a Xavi or Iniesta. Last season Messi had the most number of assists in La Liga, and that was because Villa, Pedro and others had the vision and ability to finish off goals. This very match Gonzalo Higuain, missed a couple of regulation strikes and this is the reason Messi’s performances seem mediocre for Argentina in comparison with Barcelona. There was a brilliantly taken free kick from the little master which almost everybody thought hit the back of the net, but it was the deceptive side netting. Just a few minutes had passed when Messi made his signature move from the right flank to the centre, leaving a few defenders for dead, and finally pulling the trigger with his immaculate left foot. In Barcelona colours he would made that goal 9 times out of 10 but things were not working out on this steamy summer night. The resulting corner was taken by Messi and this time, Ottamendi headed the ball in to the net and the crowd simply erupted. Buenos Aires would have felt proud of the yelling and shouting by fans in Kolkata.

father and son on an unforgettable journey

I have been watching football all my life and never before has a game been suspended in between to allow players to rehydrate themselves. Just in the dying minutes, Messi was brought down rashly by the defender near the goal line, and he lay there on the ground for about 30 seconds. The crowd was anxiously waiting and when he finally got up and made his usual strut down the pitch the spectators applauded with a sigh of relief. This was symbolic of the game, as the crowd clearly showed that the whole affair was all about Messi.

September 5^th is when the whole of India celebrates “Teacher’s day”, but it was a “Teach us day” on September 2^nd2011 in the City of Joy. When the Magical Messi sets his foot on the football pitch, it is quite obvious that a few football lessons would be taught to the opposing side as well as the spectators. But a chapter in humility was opened by this superstar athlete who earns around Rs. 2 crores per day. He waved at the crowd just before he got ready to take a corner kick, and he did it again on more than a couple of occasions after the post-match presentation. Overall it was night that I cannot forget and will be sure to tell my grandchildren in detail.

The Messi-ah of football