Messi mania begins

West Bengal is not just creating a buzz for the ‘Bongo’ bit — some of the world’s most popular footballers, including the popular 24-year-old Argentinean, Lionel Messi, will play a friendly match in Kolkata on September 2.

West Bengal is not just creating a buzz for the ‘Bongo’ bit — some of the world’s most popular footballers, including the popular 24-year-old Argentinean, Lionel Messi, will play a friendly match in Kolkata on September 2. The FIFA international match between Argentina and Venezuela, to be held in the city’s Salt Lake stadium, has Delhiites rushing for tickets and airlines bookings before there’re none left.

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“The capacity of stadium is about 1 lakh, and we have already sold 60% of the tickets,” says Ashish Hemrajani, of Bigtree Entertainment, whose website Bookmyshow.com is selling the tickets for Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000. “We have seen a steep demand in our two-night-three day package for Kolkata. The craze is just maddening,” says Manoj Gursahani, Chairman of TravelMartindia.com, an online travel portal. “The number of bookings are increasing by the day,” says Deepak Tuli of another travel agency, Goibibo. Fans can’t wait. “Messi is my God. I have booked my tickets already, “ says Saurabh Ghanshyam, 24. “Kolkata, we’re coming!” says Neha Verma, a DU student.