Kolkata: After watching an edge-of-the-seat thriller in the early hours of Saturday as unheralded Cabo Verde pushed holders Argentina to the very limit, a mightily relieved group from Kolkata will set off for the US on Monday to root for La Albiceleste, led by Lionel Messi, assured that they can continue to watch the wizard in action.The group who have tickets to two quarter-finals, two semi-finals and the final, had their hearts in their mouths on Saturday as the spirited Cape Verde team nearly pushed Messi & Co to penalties beyond the extra time before an own goal broke the stalemate. When the game ended, everyone cheered the plucky island nation team cobbled together from players across the globe that gave the three-time world champion a scare of their lives.“I thought the match would be a cakewalk for Argentina. There have been major upsets in the tournament with Germany and the Netherlands suffering early exits. But given the form Messi has been in and the lack of penetration in Cabo Verde’s attack, one felt Argentina would easily win the match and take on Egypt in the pre-quarters. How wrong I was!” said businessman Kangsari Kayal, who is travelling to his seventh Fifa World Cup. He was at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar when Messi lifted the trophy in 2022.“Saturday’s was the eighth World Cup match in a row that Messi scored in. And he looked absolutely unstoppable. Had it not been for the equally sensational Cabo Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, Messi would have scored a hat trick. Two free kicks that were destined to nestle into the net were saved by the 40-year-old goalie,” said businessman Kamal Mukherjee, travelling to his sixth Fifa World Cup. In all, Vozinha made eight saves during the game and a stupendous 18 saves in the four games Cabo Verde played.Acknowledging that Argentina would have to now play out of their skin to retain the trophy, businessman Babul Hore dreams of the men in blue and white winning against Egypt in the round of 16, Switzerland/Colombia in the quarter-final, probably Brazil in the semi-final, to ultimately set up the title clash against France/Spain. Messi, he says, will have to play the game of his life to take on Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola. “Lautaro Martinez and Julian Alvarez also have to up their game, but it is essentially Messi versus the opposition,” Hore said.But before that, the group will cheer Argentina in the pre-quarters while they are travelling and in the quarter- and semi-final matches from the stands. “We have already had a taste of Messi’s might even before embarking on the journey to the US. But as it is with all Messi fans, one is never satiated. Given that this is his last World Cup, we want to savour him a little more. And how better to do that than watch him in action live,” beamed businessman Subhasis Chakraborty.
