Reporter’s diary | Messy beginning, Messi ending: chaos and catharsis on the GOAT Tour

When your first step is preceded by utter chaos, even the bare minimum can sometimes feel like excellence. This is loosely the story of the first day of Lionel Messi’s GOAT Tour in India, split between Kolkata and Hyderabad.

Unlike the scenes in the City of Joy, where Messi was reduced to a distant speck amid a sea of ​​humanity, Hyderabad allowed the Argentine to take center stage. Next to him were Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul, the trio immersed in the admiration of fans, dressed mainly in Argentina’s iconic white and blue.

Every touch was celebrated, whether it was a sideways pass or an extremely long ball. And to the delight of the audience, the trio finally addressed them as well. The speeches were short, in Spanish, and hardly mattered. The atmosphere had done all the talking.

All’s well that ends well, you would think. A much-anticipated visit that started on a sour note – leaving the star grumpy after being pushed around by rings of over-enthusiastic VIPs in Calcutta – deserved a quiet redemption.

Everything came together beautifully on the pitch, overshadowing the generous amount of chaos that came off it.

EDITOR’S NOTE | Messi’s visit to India: a genuine love lost in dystopian opportunism

Messy but thriving

The press, English and vernacular, found themselves at a dead end with permission to cover the event, while the process was unclear to those running the event itself! Frustrated reporters in WhatsApp groups briefly raised the idea of ​​a boycott, but who could resist Messi’s charms?

To avoid the traffic and gauge how the day would unfold, this diary arrived at the venue at 2pm, only to be greeted by familiar teething problems at the gate. Despite prior approval, the lack of a QR code or confirmation email meant entry was denied.

A flurry of phone calls later, an organizer showed up and handed over a supplier tag, not a media accreditation, along with unsolicited career advice.

“Why don’t you take notes and write later?” came the suggestion, along with the coy mention of a ‘no laptop’ protocol.

Common sense won in the end. After some persuasion, a friendly police officer opened the gates. First hurdle taken.

But the problems were far from over.

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The route to the press box, usually exclusive to accredited journalists, was suddenly inaccessible. The seller’s label left the diary stranded again.

The rescue came not from the organisers, but from a familiar, ever-smiling face at the Hyderabad Cricket Association, on whose hallowed ground the spectacle took place. No stranger to navigating hurdles, the official helped the diary get past the red tape and finally reach the promised land: the press box.

Inside were the essentials: an internet connection and an uninterrupted view of the work. However, there was a lock on the door. The key? Just as hard to find as lost treasures.

A low concrete barrier that separated the media box from an adjacent business area provided a solution. Another hurdle was overcome, this time literally.

Soon the television crews arrived, their oversized cameras set up over the viewing area, all live streaming an event whose official broadcast rights belonged to the Sony Group.

Broadcast staff then resorted to bird watching. Every scion of Tollywood (Telugu film industry) and their family and friends quickly became the priorities in front of the cameras.

The ensuing battle made the diary grateful that it belonged to the quieter corner of journalism, where words, not lenses, do the talking.

As the clock ticked past 8 p.m., a buzz rang through the stadium. The first to arrive was Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, whose enthusiasm for football was evident from the start. Dressed for the occasion, he took part in the action on the pitch and even found the back of the net, much to the delight of the crowd.

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Then came the moment everyone had been waiting for: Messi, Suarez and De Paul, the trio smiling broadly and waving to an emotionally charged crowd.

While billboards outside advertised a duel between the World Cup winner and the Prime Minister, Messi’s strict ‘insurance guards’ allowed him only a few neat steps, a few simple tricks, numerous handshakes and a lap of honour.

A brief awards ceremony and short speeches later, the trio disappeared back into the stadium, smiles intact and hands still waving.

The lights and internet were briefly turned off in the press box, with just two reporters among the sea of ​​staff inside, with a deadline hanging over their heads. Somehow the report was submitted and the deadline was met.

While Kolkata’s missteps had forced Hyderabad to straighten its back, the night was proof that a nation that loves fetishizing stardom and those who wear those crowns of thorns can actually do its thing when push comes to shove and when pride and political points are at stake.

In all of this, the full weight of the moment somehow never had time to settle. Lionel Messi, the GOAT, in the flesh, months away from defending a World Cup title, here in the diary’s backyard, feels as surreal 24 hours later as it did when the evening unfolded.

The night went by faster than Messi slipped past defenders in his prime.

Published on December 14, 2025