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Kolkata: Even as the clock ticks toward a scintillating climax of an extraordinary build up to the World Cup football final, a million hearts beat in distant Kolkata – a football-crazy metropolis in India. Over 16,000 kilometres separate Buenos Aires from Kolkata, but one deep, common thread binds these two cities together as the World Cup final on Sunday approaches. The Argentine Football Fan Club in Kolkata is seething with excitement and tension, waiting with bated breath for an Argentine victory and a Golden Boot for football superstar Lionel Messi.

There is no dearth of initiatives by the club to celebrate a potential victory in a befittingly elaborate manner. Set up in 2002, the Argentine Fan Club in Kolkata is, in essence, a dedicated Lionel Messi Fan Club. 

An image of Argentina Fan Club. Photo provided by author.

“We know Lio Messi will deliver. There is no power to rob him of an Argentine victory after the Messi magic mesmerised and enthralled millions of people in one match after the other as Argentina went up the ladder to lift the World Cup,” says Happy Saha, a key member of the club based at Baghajatin Ganguly Bagan in the southern outskirts of Kolkata. Happy and his elder brother, Uttam Kumar Saha, are the principal flag bearers who have inculcated this Lionel Messi cult across the city.

The club’s devotion spans the entire year. On June 24, to mark Messi’s birthday, members cut a giant four-foot by three-foot custom-ordered cake. When the tournament began, a motorcade of 15 club bikers journeyed to the famous Kalighat Temple in South Kolkata to offer pujas to Goddess Kali – the revered deity symbolising strength and power – convinced that a divine blessing made an Argentine triumph a fait accompli.

For the climax on Sunday, the club has lined up a series of evening cultural programmes. Fans will watch the match live on a giant 30-foot by 20-foot LED screen that has been active since the tournament’s opening day. “It’s a full-house draw every night when Argentina is on the fixtures,” an enthusiast notes.

A centennial football legacy

This unbridled passion is not a modern anomaly; it is rooted in a deep historical obsession. Kolkata possesses a rich football playing legacy spanning........

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