On Friday, masses in Indonesia expressed their anger at Argentina star Lionel Messi’s failure to attend a friendly against the national team in the capital Jakarta, accusing the organizers of encouraging false publicity.
Fans flocked to buy 60,000 tickets for Monday’s friendly between Indonesia and World Cup champions Qatar after the match was advertised with a poster featuring Messi’s image.
But after days of speculation, fans in the soccer-obsessed nation got bad news on Thursday when Messi, a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner for the world’s best player, would not be taking part in the tournament.
“I feel sad, disappointed and mixed feelings,” Surya Vijaya Ang, 31, from Banda Nera, a remote island in eastern Maluku province, told AFP.
“This is my biggest chance to see Messi play up close,” he added.
The Argentina national team opened their Asian tour by beating Australia 2-0 in a friendly in the Chinese capital, Beijing, where coach “Albi Celeste” Lionel Scaloni confirmed that Messi will not feature against Indonesia.
An ardent Messi fan during his golden years with Barcelona, Aung has amassed a collection of around 200 shirts bearing the name “Blei”.
Ang plans to take a ferry to the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon before taking a four-hour flight to Jakarta for the competition. He sold seven shirts from his collection to pay for the 1.2 million rupee ($80) match ticket, a high price in the lower-middle-income country.
-“I will see Lionel Scaloni”- Messi’s boyfriend is upset and says that the organizers have apparently promised the participation of the Argentine star, “Messi is an icon, and you can say that 90 percent of the tickets were sold by Messi. .”
“It’s a marketing strategy for them,” he added.
On the other hand, other Indonesians expressed their disappointment on social media, with one offering to sell two tickets “because Messi won’t come”.
A video posted on Twitter read, “Why don’t you come to Indonesia, Mr. Messi, why don’t you come?” said one fan, who was shown singing and playing guitar, while another said, “It’s the end of my crush. We won’t beg for him… to come.”
Indonesian football has recently experienced several crises after a tragic accident at a stadium, and Israel lost the right to organize the Under-20 World Cup after it refused to participate.
Although his dream of seeing Messi was dashed, Ang confirmed that he would travel to the capital to watch the match. “I’ve come this far, so I’m leaving,” he said. “Maybe I’ll see Lionel Scaloni,” he concluded with a laugh.
