Lionel Messi was not there, Emiliano Martinez was. But nonetheless, Messi dominated the discourse on a Tuesday afternoon that was reserved for Martinez, who was glad to play ball. As one in every of Messi’s most trusted lieutenants throughout Argentina’s triumphant marketing campaign within the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Martinez did not thoughts the curiosity, the curiosity round his iconic teammate’s future within the sport, and determined to flow on the second day of his go to to the football-mad metropolis. Earlier, scenes of unbridled pleasure swept by way of the roads main as much as the Mohun Bagan tent, the place the star goalkeeper was engaged in a slew of actions, together with inaugurating the Pele-Maradona-Sobers gate and declaring open the Kolkata Police Friendship Cup in entrance of packed stands.

‘Dibu’, as he’s fondly referred to as, was overwhelmed by the welcome he acquired from hundreds of followers sporting the Albiceleste colors and Messi’s No. 10 jersey.

“To see so many people cheering for you, and Argentina is a joy,” he mentioned.

With cheers of ‘Messi, Messi’ reverberating throughout the stands, the 30-year-old Martinez made a promise to convey Messi to Kolkata once more, and to play soccer in Argentina colors.

“This is not the end, I hope to come back to India to play with Argentina and Messi,” he mentioned, producing the loudest cheers.

“Now when I come to places like this, I realise the importance of winning the World Cup. Making people happy.

“I mentioned I might come to Kolkata to see the tradition, the gorgeous Kolkata metropolis. I’m actually proud to be right here right now,” he said.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup Golden Glove winner thanked Messi for making him a “higher goalkeeper”.

Asked if he has ever stopped a Messi penalty, he said: “Yes, I’ve, in apply matches.” “We used to apply rather a lot earlier than the World Cup. We needed to be prepared for the penalty shootout. So there isn’t any higher technique to put together for it than stopping Messi.

“That’s how I became a better goalkeeper. By denying a Messi penalty I knew I could stop anyone.” “It’s a mental game… I practice a lot. And before the World Cup final too, we practiced a lot of penalty shootouts, knowing that something like this may come into play.” The Aston Villa goalkeeper mentioned he aspires to win extra titles with Argentina.

“From a very young age, I had a dream to become Argentina’s number one goalkeeper. I’m not going to relax now, I want to become better and win many, many tournaments for Argentina.” When the dialogue turned to Indian soccer, Martinez mentioned the hot button is to rent European coaches and develop the kids.

“The first thing you need to do is to bring European coaches, bring the best coaches who can teach the kids and bring European style of football — how to move on the pitch.

“I’m additionally bringing European strategies to Argentina goalkeepers to verify they grow to be higher from a really younger age.

“By doing that from a young age, hopefully, India would play the World Cup.”

Messi is the best

Earlier within the day, he was felicitated by Mohun Bagan and East Bengal golf equipment on the sidelines of a chat present ‘Tahader Katha’ on the Milan Mela floor, the place he declared “Messi is the greatest”.

“Messi is the best ever player and there will be no Messi in the future. It’s hard to match him. He’s the greatest player.

“We needed to win the World Cup for him and we did it.” Messi had made it clear that the World Cup in Qatar was his last and he had no plans to don the Argentina jersey in 2026.

“No worries,” said Martinez, adding that they are a team of “tigers” and they would rise to the challenge again.

“I tackle challenges with all my coronary heart and keenness. We have gotten a bunch of tigers within the workforce and we’re able to struggle,” he said.

Sea of white and blue

The Maidan was a sea of white and blue with Argentina fans sporting the jersey and heading to the Mohun Bagan ground.

The posters of Martinez kissing his Golden Glove and the glittering FIFA World Cup Trophy dotted the Gostha Pal Sarani leading up to Mohun Bagan tent.

Such was the craze outside the Mohun Bagan gate that not an inch of space was left vacant.

Fans were seen standing on the edges of an open drain, or precariously standing on the cliffs of the stadium gallery, to catch a glimpse of Martinez.

The Argentine icon arrived an hour late and first inaugurated the Pele-Maradona-Sobers gate by cutting the customary ribbon.

He headed straight to the Mohun Bagan tent office where the club officials took him on a tour of the facility. It was followed by a customary photo-op with the club members outside the club lawn.

The club also handpicked a few school children who had their “desires fulfilled”.

“It was a dream come true for us. We are a giant fan of his goalkeeping and took selfies and autographs,” said Prachet Singh Chauhan, who was accompanied by Akshat Gupta, Aravan Bajpayee and Karan Chawla.

Later, he headed to the ground and waved the Indian flag in a novel gesture. He then boarded an open vehicle, took a round of the ground, and kicked footballs to the fans in the galleries.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)