In a world like this, where idealism is a dream that can never be a reality, we always like to debate on the things that could have been, as means to please our senses.
For Indian football fans, once such fantasy would be watching Lionel Messi represent India. It is a hypothesis that would bring about a lot of joy when envisaging it but would leave some pain once it is over.
We are going to do the same here as we look at the 5 things that could have happened had Lionel Messi was a Blue Tiger.
#1 Indian football fans would be the most hated
This is very obvious, isn’t it? The fact that the cricket team’s fans are the most disliked in the cricketing fraternity works as a testament to the claim.
The Indian cricket team is going through a glorious phase in their history right now. One of the biggest reasons for their rise is the greatest player in the history of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar. When it comes to him, it feels as though he belongs to every single Indian—and that is why most one of them are so proud of him despite the fact that they played absolutely no role in the Little Master’s achievements.
Hence, if the best footballer in the world belonged to India, the bragging level would have gone over the limit of tolerance. It is okay if only one person does it, but India is a country which is inhabited by a billion people.
Just imagine a billion people shamelessly lauding the achievements of someone else as a means to give their own lives a meaning…not much fun, is it?
#2 Messi would not have qualified for WC
It looks unlikely that Messi and Argentina will make it to the 2018 World Cup after a 2-0 loss to Bolivia, which saw the Barcelona star lose his temper at the referee and have a verbal confrontation with him. And with Messi’s suspension, it looks all the more unlikely.
This is a team that have world class players like Angel di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero and many more. And yet, they are struggling to qualify for the World Cup.
Whereas, if Messi was Indian, he would have compatriots that would struggle to challenge for a berth in the starting XI of the Fourth Tier of football in England. Hence, it is only fair and logical to assume that playing in the Blue jersey of India would have deprived 5-time Ballon d’Or winner of ever playing in a World Cup.
Despite the fact that the other Asian teams aren't as strong as the South America ones, qualifying would still be an issue because no matter how good Messi is, one man can only carry a team so far.
#3 Messi is the God
If the 5-time Ballon d’Or winner was to represent Indian in the international scene, then it wouldn’t be surprising to see Lionel Messi’s photos in the prayer rooms of many Indians—such is the passion of the Indian people towards their best players.
When Sachin Tendulkar was still active, he was labelled by many as a God. Many Indians, to this day, reminisce the transcendental batting of Sachin with a smile on their faces and tears in their eyes. To them, watching him play was the ultimate reward of life, like ‘prasadam’ from the Almighty.
Sachin’s feats as a player are unparalleled, and so is Lionel Messi’s. Hence, one could be absolutely certain that had Lionel Messi been an Indian, he would have been worshipped as the God of football.
And the Indian people would have two Gods to pray to while...
#4 Football becomes a religion
Ever since India won their first World Cup in 1983, cricket became the major sport in the country. However, it only got the tag of religion once Sachin Tendulkar came into existence. Obviously, when a player is seen in the same light as God, the sport which he plays automatically becomes a religion.
The Indian Super League might have increased the popularity of the beautiful game in India, but if Lionel Messi was an Indian, the ISL would no longer be necessary to boost the image of football in the country as people would follow the game just because of La Pulga.
Every Barcelona or Indian National team game, then, would be fixated upon by many Indians, their eyes glued to the TV set. This burst of interest would result in more and more kids aspiring to be like Messi, which, in turn, would have seen Indian football go through a phase of…
#5 Rapid improvement
For any country to be good at a sport, it needs to have the necessary popularity among the masses. Despite the fact that cricket has been the most viewed sport in Bangladesh for a long time now, it has taken so many years for the nation to build up a world class team and yet they are quite far away from becoming the finished product.
The reason why we don’t see countries like Argentina and Spain in the cricket World Cup is because these two aforementioned nations hardly care for the sport which, in turn, results in the younger kids completely shunning its existence, let alone aspiring to be an exponent of it.
Football has only just begun to gain popularity in the region. However, if Messi was an Indian player, the growth of the game in the nation would have been as rapid as wildfire. This would result in more and more children aspiring to be like their idol, which would, in the long run, produce a lot of talented players.
And finally, these talented players would have forged a team good enough to qualify for the World Cup. But, by then, however, Messi would have been long retired.
