Football legend Lionel Messi received a thunderous welcome from fans at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, December 14. PIC/ASHISH RAJE
Global football icon Lionel Messi was greeted by fans with great enthusiasm in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium (Pic/PTI)
Messi was accompanied by star footballers Rodrigo De Paul and Luis Suarez at the iconic Wankhede (Pic/PTI)
Upon his arrival at the Wankhede Stadium, he was greeted by Mumbai Cricket Association President Ajinkya Naik (Pic/MCA)
Following the fiasco which happened in Kolkata on the first day of the Messi India GOAT tour, the Mumbai Police, along with other authorities, ensured that the event in the financial capital concluded smoothly (Pic/Ashish Raje)
Police authorities manned the streets right from Churchgate Station to the venue, ensuring that the crowds remained orderly. Senior officers were spotted patiently guiding confused fans to the correct entry gates. Street vendors selling counterfeit Argentina jerseys for Rs 200 to Rs 500 were pushed far from the venue to avoid congestion (Pic/ Shadab Khan)
The queues moved smoothly across all gates, with women, children, and boisterous teenagers efficiently funnelled under the supervision of private security staff. Inside the stadium, too, operations ran as seamlessly as one of Messi’s passes (Pic/Shadab Khan)
Soon after entering Wankhede Stadium, Messi impressed fans with flawless left-footed passes to children and launched a dozen footballs into the stands, waving the attendees during his slow walkaround as the crowd erupted with joy and admiration for the legend (Pic/Ashish Raje)
Along with cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar and CM Devendra Fadnavis, Bollywood stars Tiger Shroff and Ajay Devgn also greeted Messi (Pic/Ashish Raje)
At exactly 5.50 pm, Messi left the turf. Within minutes, the crowd exited calmly, with many heading back towards Churchgate with the satisfaction of witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime moment of watching their hero play in the 'City of Dreams' (Pic/Ashish Raje)
While the India GOAT Tour’s Day 1 descended into chaos in Kolkata, Messi received a memorable welcome from fans in Mumbai (Pic/PTI)
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