New Delhi: Kolkata knows how to worship footballing gods. On Saturday afternoon, that devotion turned into disillusionment as Lionel Messi ’s much-anticipated appearance ended not in applause, but in anger and chaos at the Salt Lake Stadium.

The city’s long-awaited tryst with the Argentine icon quickly unravelled when Messi, in India as part of his GOAT Tour, was forced to cut short his lap of honour at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan following an uncontrollable surge in the crowd. Frustration boiled over, bottles were thrown, and security officials hurried him off the pitch within minutes.

Many spectators, including those who had paid premium prices for tickets, complained that they never managed to see Messi—neither directly nor on the stadium’s giant screens—despite waiti

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