Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Che Guevara: How two different countries found same heroes

Lionel Messi

Amidst the pandemonium that unfolded in Kolkata, Lionel Messi would have found a strange connection with a humid night in Santa Fe, one and a half decades ago. In the vast arena, the nearest international stadium to his hometown Rosario, he saw enraged masses peel off his posters, the audience breaking chairs and jeering him. He slumped to the turf, weary with the burden of a country, as the symbol of a nation’s collective failings, after the Copa America game with Colombia ended goalless.

At the Salt Lake Stadium, ten thousand miles away from Santa Fe, he was a symbol of another multitude’s frustration, the collective angst that the deity they love didn’t reciprocate their devotion. That he didn’t reciprocate their love; that he was acting to the pre-scripted notes of a PR pro, that he was just a human mannequin waving his hands at the crowd, without love or care. The root of the chaos, as much as the organisational ineptitude, was the sense of betrayal. After all, the fan futilely believes that the emotional connection is mutual. It’s akin to visiting any crowded Indian temple, where the devotee can’t have enough time to unload his grievances to the stone idol.