Argentine footballer and 2022 FIFA World Cup winning captain Lionel Messi, his Inter Miami teammates Rodrigo De Paul, and Luis Suarez during the second leg of ‘GOAT India Tour 2025’, in Hyderabad. (Left), and Lionel Messi playing football (Photo/Agencies)
NEW DELHI: Lionel Messi’s programme in Hyderabad on Saturday offered a clear contrast to the disorder seen earlier in Kolkata, as the second leg of the GOAT India Tour passed without disruption and ended on a smooth note.After a troubled start in the City of Joy, Hyderabad offered a setting where the event was allowed to breathe. The structure held, the crowd stayed in place, and the programme ran as intended, drawing a clear line between what had gone wrong earlier in the day and what was put right later.
Messi arrived in Hyderabad at around 5.40 pm, following a difficult opening leg of his three-day, four-city GOAT India Tour 2025. Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy received him at the Taj Falaknuma Palace before the Argentine headed to the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.The stands were close to full when Messi walked out, dressed simply in a green crew-neck T-shirt, black trousers and sports shoes. This time, there was no rush, no scramble. He stayed for about an hour, at ease, moving through the programme without the strain that had cut short his time in Kolkata.“I am very happy to be in Hyderabad in the midst of all the love and affection shown by you all,” Messi said through a translator, acknowledging the crowd.Messi, along with Inter Miami teammates Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul, took part in the GOAT Cup penalty shootout, with Revanth Reddy also joining them on the field in football attire. The players later conducted football clinics for children before the formalities drew to a close.Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi joined the group towards the end of the event during the felicitation ceremony, with photographs taken in front of the sponsor hoardings lining the ground.Messi presented the GOAT Cup to Singareni RR 9, winners of the seven-a-side exhibition match and a team representing the chief minister. Reddy presented a memento to Messi, while Gandhi handed one to Suarez.Before stepping onto the field, Messi spent time inside the stadium, looking at photographs on the walls and speaking with officials. He waved to fans from behind a glass barrier, then later offered glimpses of the touch and control that have defined his career, juggling and passing the ball with Suarez, De Paul and Reddy. A slow walk around the stadium followed, with Messi acknowledging the crowd along the way.Earlier in the day, scenes in Kolkata were very different. Around 50,000 spectators, many of whom paid between Rs 4,000 and Rs 12,000 — and in some cases up to Rs 20,000 in the black market — were left angry as politicians, VVIPs and security personnel surrounded Messi, limiting visibility for fans.The situation escalated when spectators threw bottles, which are banned inside stadiums. Food packets were also found inside the venue. Chairs were pulled out and thrown, and fibreglass seats were damaged across the field and the synthetic track.Messi will travel to Mumbai on Sunday for the third leg of the GOAT India Tour 2025. He will conclude his visit on Monday in New Delhi, where he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.