Kolkata | Argentine superstar Lionel Messi's long-awaited return to India, after a magical maiden visit back in 2011, will be high on glitz but low on actual football, promising a spectacle that may not recapture the raw sporting frenzy that once shook the Salt Lake Stadium here.
His artistry in a competitive match will be missing this time. It would be quite unlike 2011 when more than 85,000 fans packed the stadium, some even perched on terrace edges, to watch Argentina edge Venezuela 1-0 in a FIFA friendly.
The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner is not scheduled to play serious football on the 'G.O.A.T. India Tour 2025'. It is a fully promotional, and commercially-curated event which will begin on Saturday here and wind up on Monday in New Delhi.
Yet, for a city that once worshipped Maradona, Pele, dazzled Dunga and embraced Ronaldinho, the arrival of Messi even without football is unmissable because Kolkata cannot ignore him.
The organisers have opened 78,000 seats at the Salt Lake Stadium with ticket prices going up to Rs 7,000 for his 45-minute appearance on Saturday morning, raising questions on whether the city will respond with the same unrestrained passion.
Messi will spend less than 72 hours in India but will traverse four metropolis -- Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi -- in what has increasingly begun to resemble a high-profile roadshow involving chief ministers, corporate heavyweights, Bollywood celebrities and even a scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India's Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, a self-confessed Messi admirer, is also expected to meet him after the Dharamshala T20I on December 14.
Messi's last appearance in India remains etched in memory when on September 3, 2011, he danced past defenders, mesmerised with his left-footed grace and triggered waves of ecstasy in a packed stadium.
Though he didn't score, fans left believing they had witnessed greatness.
High on glamour quotient
The highlight of the tour will be a 45-minute philanthropic fashion event in Mumbai on Sunday, featuring Messi, his long-time strike partner Luis Suarez and Argentina midfielder Rodrigo De Paul.
"There will be celebrity models, cricketers, Bollywood celebrities, millionaires, founders. Tiger and Jackie Shroff, John Abraham among others," said Satadru Dutta, sole promoter of the tour.
Suarez will also feature in a Spanish music show. The organisers have requested Messi to bring "some memorabilia" of his trophy-winning 2022 World Cup campaign which will be auctioned during the Mumbai leg.
The Mumbai event at Wankhede Stadium will be preceded by a Padel Cup at the CCI.
Kolkata will welcome Messi on Saturday.
He will stay at a five-star hotel on EM Bypass and attend a sponsor-exclusive meet-and-greet in the morning.
Kolkata will also have a new 'Messi landmark' near the Sreebhumi Clock Tower (the Big Ben replica) on the VIP Road with a giant 70-feet statue of the Argentine World Cup winner holding aloft the Trophy.
The inauguration will be a virtual ceremony from his hotel room after police denied permission for a public event.
A 25ft x 20ft Messi mural, planned for next year's Durga Puja season, will also be unveiled and later presented to Messi at the Salt Lake Stadium.
After the event, Messi fly to Hyderabad at 2 pm. The Hyderabad leg was added to the itinerary after Messi's proposed friendly in Kochi was cancelled.
Once there, he will attend the GOAT Cup -- a festival backed by Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy -- featuring a 7v7 celebrity match, penalty shootouts, a masterclass for young talents and a musical tribute.
Messi will conclude his tour in Delhi, where he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Minerva Academy's prodigies, 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.
Messi's visit adds a fresh chapter to Kolkata's unmatched love affair with the beautiful game.
It began in 1977, when Pele and the New York Cosmos played a 2-2 exhibition against Mohun Bagan at Eden Gardens, a night that is part of the city's folklore now.
Pele, following his hip surgery returned in 2015 reuniting with Mohun Bagan's class of '77 and thanking the crowd with the iconic line: "You can never have another Pele." Brazil's Dunga, Bebeto, Mauro Silva, and Colombia's flamboyant Rene Higuita have all made visits over the years.
Higuita thrilled crowds with his trademark 'scorpion kick' saves in 2012, while Dunga inspired youngsters with talk of discipline and youth development.
Germany's connection runs deep too as Oliver Kahn's farewell match in 2008 drew more than one lakh to Salt Lake Stadium.
But perhaps no one stirred Kolkata quite like Diego Maradona, whose 2008 and 2017 visits saw nearly a lakh people throng the stadium to catch a glimpse of him.
And then there was Diego Forlan, who arrived to roaring crowds in 2010 fresh off his Golden Ball-winning World Cup campaign.
'Handshake visit'; ex-footballers snubbed
Not everyone is swept by the frenzy though and former footballers feel "hurt and insulted" for not being invited.
Former India and Mohun Bagan mid-fielder Gautam Sarkar, who famously man-marked Pele during the 1977 exhibition match, minced no words.
"These are nothing but gimmicks. Messi is coming only to do a handshake... Pele had come here and actually played with us," the 75-year-old told PTI.
Ironically, Messi arrives at a time when Indian football is grappling with serious uncertainty.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has failed to secure a commercial partner for the Indian Super League (ISL), and with the season already deep into December, its resumption remains unclear.
"Instead of bringing Messi, our focus should be on how to improve football in the country. We must give utmost priority to Indian football and bring back the glory of the past," Sarkar said Former India defender Subrata Bhattacharya too felt "insulted".
