New Delhi: It has been 14 years since the ‘little boy’ from Rosario, Argentina, stepped into the jam-packed stadium at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata to play a friendly match against Venezuela. Now Lionel Messi is returning to India once again in December this year for a three-day GOAT tour.
“I’m truly excited to be visiting such a beautiful country as India this December. It will be a pleasure to attend concerts, youth football clinics, a paddle cup, and launch charitable initiatives during events at iconic stadiums in Kolkata, New Delhi, and maybe one more city,” the Argentine legend said in an Instagram post.
Back in 2011, a 24-year-old Messi was energetic, full of dreams, and Barcelona’s golden boy with already two Ballon d’Ors — an annual football award honoured to the best player of the previous season — under his name. Now, he is returning as a legend who wriggled through the 2022 FIFA World Cup to lift the trophy in Qatar and has a record-breaking eight Balon d’Or trophies, cementing his name in the ‘Hall of Fame’ forever.
Three-day GOAT concert
The GOAT India Tour 2025 — a Satadru Dutta initiative — will be held in Kolkata (13 December), Mumbai (14 December), and Delhi (15 December). “As things stand now, another city is likely to be added to the list, most probably Ahmedabad,” Dutta, the main organiser of the tour, told ThePrint.
In Kolkata, Messi is slated to adorn the field once again at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan stadium in Kolkata’s Salt Lake. But this time, an 11-a-side celebrity match — likely featuring former international and club teammates of the little magician, ex-Indian football players, and ‘skillful’ actor-turned-football-enthusiasts like Tiger Shroff and Ranbir Kapoor — has been planned.
“After the match, Messi will interact with the young players of our nation, followed by a musical concert and a grand felicitation,” Dutta said. “In Mumbai, I have been planning to work on an event around Shah Rukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rohit Sharma.”
He added that the final chapter of the tour would conclude in Delhi, where Virat Kohli and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are likely to be present at the event.
The brains behind the vision
Forty-six-year-old Satadru Dutta has been an ardent football fanatic for the last four decades. “I fell in love with football when I was six years old. It was a magic moment from Maradona. The rest is history. I have watched four consecutive World Cup editions,” he said, adding that money never played a factor for a player like Messi; he decided to come because of the ‘emotional connect’ with the organiser.
In July 2023, Argentina’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez visited Kolkata — another initiative by Dutta. Several thousands of fans gathered at the airport to welcome him. He attended several events, including a visit to India’s oldest club, Mohun Bagan. Just three months later, Brazilian midfield maestro Ronaldinho landed in Kolkata.
“That was the turning point for me. Both Martinez and Ronaldinho,” Dutta said. “Martinez has been playing with Messi for a long time. They are really good friends. I pleaded to Martinez, and he answered my call. He was the person who had vouched for India to Messi. Ronaldinho, too, loves India and must have said positive things to Messi about our country.”
When Messi was just 17 years old, Ronaldinho mentored him since his debut in Barcelona in 2004.
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A Messi-crazy nation
India is a nation that has always been crazy about football. With time, several legends of the game have visited the country. In some parts, especially Kerala and Kolkata, also known as the ‘Mecca of Indian football’, it’s considered as a religion. And, Messi is one of the most worshipped ‘Gods’ alongside Pele and Maradona.
For 27-year-old Kushal Guha, a Kolkata-based entrepreneur, it was the glorious ‘Ankara Messi’ moment — a dazzling solo against Getafe during the 2006–07 Copa del Rey — when he fell in love with football. “I was just 10 years old. It was magical, it was something beyond football,” he told ThePrint.
Apart from posters of him plastered alongside that of Rabindranath Tagore and Sourav Ganguly at several old Kolkata lanes, Messi’s fanbase has gone to such an extent that a statue of him was unveiled in the City of Joy in 2022. Meanwhile, in Kerala, huge cutouts of over 30 feet of the Argentine maestro were put up in the streets over the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
“Messi is like poetry in motion. Not just a footballer, but an inspiration,” Arnab Ghosh, 33, an employee at a private bank in Kolkata, said. “Knowing that he is coming to Kolkata feels like a dream come true. For us, it is more than a visit; it’s history being made.”
In 2014, when a 27-year-old Messi lost the World Cup final against Germany or in 2016 when he retired from international football after a heartbreaking loss at the Copa America final, a pall of grief had dawned upon the streets of Kolkata. Heartbroken fans cried and prayed for him to return in the white-and-blue striped jersey.
“Stay strong, Leo. I kept murmuring this after the 2014 and 2016 dejection. Football without him would not have been the same,” 31-year-old Neel Dutta, another entrepreneur in Kolkata, told ThePrint. “Now, he returns as the most accomplished and decorated player in the history of football. Fourteen years ago, I couldn’t see him due to my exams. This time, I wouldn’t miss his show.”
Scenario of Indian football
While the love for the sport persists in the country, the Indian national football team is yet to make a mark on the international stage. Currently, India sit at the 134th position, and there lies a huge task ahead to make an impact on the world stage. Though a lot has changed since Messi’s last visit, like the inauguration of the Indian Super League (ISL), which had boasted foreign players like Del Piero, Robert Pires, and David James, there has been a dearth of grassroots academies and youth infrastructure in the country.
“Who does not want foreign star players on their home soil? When Brazilian legend Pelé came to Kolkata, the craze was equal in 1977. Therefore, Messi’s visit also has a similar essence. And in both cases, it is a great initiative to uplift Indian football,” Atanu Bhattacharya, former goalkeeper and Indian football team captain, told ThePrint.
Only a few states, like West Bengal, Punjab, Goa, Mizoram, and Manipur, have produced talents in football. Kerala, Meghalaya, and other northeastern states also do not lag behind.
“This is the main problem,” Bhattacharya said. “Most of the Indian states are not aware of the stature of football, and it is because of our respective governments. They have always prioritised cricket over any other sport and wanted themselves to be in the spotlight instead of the players or the coaches.”
In November 2023, former Arsenal tactician Arsene Wenger visited Bhubaneswar to unveil a youth academy. “There are many children in the world who don’t get the chance to develop their talent, and we can change that,” Wenger had said, adding that they want to develop elite players in countries where there’s potential for further development, and India is definitely one of them.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)