Hyderabad roars for Messi, as Revanth Reddy scores in a friendly match

The much anticipated friendly football match featuring teams led by football great Lionel Messi and Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy turned into a spectacle on and off the field on Saturday (December 13) evening. Hours after the stadium horror in Kolkata, Hyderabad roared for Messi in a packed Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.

A carnival air prevailed as thousands of fans of Messi waited for nearly four hours, entertained by a laser show, fireworks and flamethrowers. The stadium was packed with an audience estimated at 30,000, with thousands of them wearing the blue and white striped jerseys emblazoned with Messi waited with bated breath as Messi entered the premises of the stadium on schedule at 7.50 p.m.

The spectators could not have asked for more. “I got goosebumps as Messi kicked the ball in my direction,” said Baipothu Ashwith, a Class X student who spent ₹5,800 to watch his idol and travelled from Kukatpally.

“It was a dream come true in person. I have been watching Messi for the past 10 years since he won Champions League match with Luis Suarez and I was studying B.Tech at IIT Madras,” said Vamsi Vikas who has a tattoo of his hero on his forearm and travelled from Tellapur to watch the match.

Aparna Messi All Stars in blue versus Singareni RR 9 in red kicked off the ball, but the eyes were turned to the large screen on Messi and Revanth Reddy. At 8.08 p.m., Revanth Reddy entered dressed in the red jersey of Singareni RR 9 to a roar. But once Messi entered the stadium at about 8.10 p.m., it was just kicking about the ball. Once a three-penalties-a-side was announced, Revanth converted the final into a goal.

The audience turned the event into a selfie, videos and photo-op moment as Messi and Revanth Reddy went around the stadium occasionally kicking a ball into the stadium and waving at the spectators. Revanth Reddy gave a token of appreciation at the end of the event to Lionel Messi for the tour.