{"id":3043,"date":"2025-12-15T10:03:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T10:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesofpakistan.tv\/index.php\/2025\/12\/15\/golden-moment-as-messi-meets-tendulkar-chhetri-on-india-tour\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T10:03:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T10:03:28","slug":"golden-moment-as-messi-meets-tendulkar-chhetri-on-india-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesofpakistan.tv\/index.php\/2025\/12\/15\/golden-moment-as-messi-meets-tendulkar-chhetri-on-india-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Golden moment&#8217; as Messi meets Tendulkar, Chhetri on India tour"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"medium-insert-images ui-sortable\">\n<figure contenteditable=\"false\">\n    <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2025-12-14\/639376_2430661_updates.jpg\" alt=\"Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar (right) gifts his signatured T-shirt to Argentina\u2019s footballer Lionel Messi during his Goat Tour at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 14, 2025. \u2014 X\/@ sachin_rt\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" class=\"\"\/><figcaption contenteditable=\"true\" class=\"\">Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar (right) gifts his signatured T-shirt to Argentina\u2019s footballer Lionel Messi during his Goat Tour at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 14, 2025. \u2014 X\/@ sachin_rt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Football icon Lionel Messi\u2019s second day in India passed smoothly on Sunday, after a chaotic opening to his three-day tour, as the World Cup winner kicked balls into the crowd and met cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.<\/p>\n<p>Messi greeted excited fans decked out in Argentina football jerseys at a packed Wankhede stadium in India\u2019s financial hub, Mumbai, as supporters chanted his name.<\/p>\n<p>The 38-year-old Argentina and Inter Miami superstar took centre stage in the presence of India\u2019s sporting royalty including Tendulkar and football star Sunil Chhetri.<\/p>\n<p>Messi along with his Inter Miami teammates Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul are part of a so-called Goat Tour of a cricket-crazy nation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"medium-insert-images ui-sortable\">\n<figure contenteditable=\"false\">\n    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2025-12-14\/639376_9777679_updates.jpg\" alt=\"Argentinas footballers Lionel Messi (Right) and Rodrigo De Paul arrive to attend an event during Messi\u00b4s GOAT Tour at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 14, 2025.\u2014 AFP\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" class=\"\"\/><figcaption contenteditable=\"true\" class=\"\">Argentina&#8217;s footballers Lionel Messi (Right) and Rodrigo De Paul arrive to attend an event during Messi\u00b4s GOAT Tour at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 14, 2025.\u2014 AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Cricket great Tendulkar presented Messi with his iconic number 10 jersey from India\u2019s 2011 World Cup triumph at the same venue.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have spent some incredible moments here,&#8221; said batting star Tendulkar.<\/p>\n<div class=\"medium-insert-images ui-sortable\">\n<figure contenteditable=\"false\">\n    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2025-12-14\/639376_8167594_updates.jpg\" alt=\"Argentinas footballer Lionel Messi (L) and Indias former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar attend an event during Messis Goat Tour at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 14, 2025. \u2014 AFP\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" class=\"\"\/><figcaption contenteditable=\"true\" class=\"\">Argentina&#8217;s footballer Lionel Messi (L) and India&#8217;s former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar attend an event during Messi&#8217;s Goat Tour at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 14, 2025. \u2014 AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;Mumbai is a city of dreams and number of dreams have seen the finish line here on this very venue and without your support we could never have seen those golden moments in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And today having all three greats of game here is indeed a golden moment for Mumbai, Mumbaikars and India.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"medium-insert-images ui-sortable\">\n<figure contenteditable=\"false\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2025-12-14\/639376_768136_updates.jpg\" alt=\"Argentinas footballer Lionel Messi greets fans during his Goat Tour at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 14, 2025.\u2014 AFP\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" class=\"\"\/><figcaption contenteditable=\"true\" class=\"\">Argentina&#8217;s footballer Lionel Messi greets fans during his Goat Tour at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 14, 2025.\u2014 AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Although a cricket powerhouse, the nation of 1.4 billion struggles on the football pitch and are 142nd on the Fifa rankings.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Thank you for being here and encouraging youngsters,&#8221; said Tendulkar. &#8220;I hope football here in India also reaches the heights that we all aspire.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"medium-insert-images ui-sortable\">\n<figure contenteditable=\"false\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2025-12-14\/639376_7246577_updates.jpg\" alt=\"Argentinas footballer Lionel Messi (Right) interacts with a young fan during his Goat Tour at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 14, 2025.\u2014 AFP\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" class=\"\"\/><figcaption contenteditable=\"true\" class=\"\">Argentina&#8217;s footballer Lionel Messi (Right) interacts with a young fan during his Goat Tour at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 14, 2025.\u2014 AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Mumbai event went smoothly compared to Saturday\u2019s in the eastern city of Kolkata where heavy security left fans struggling to catch a glimpse of Messi.<\/p>\n<p>Frustrated fans, many having paid more than $100 for tickets, broke down barricades and stormed the pitch after the superstar abruptly left the arena.<\/p>\n<p>Spectators also ripped out stadium seats and hurled water bottles onto the track.<\/p>\n<p>One person has been arrested for the incident.<\/p>\n<p>Before the chaos erupted, Messi unveiled a 21-metre (70-foot) statue which shows him holding aloft the World Cup in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The footballer was in Hyderabad city later on Saturday where he addressed the crowd briefly in Spanish.<\/p>\n<p>Messi wraps up his India tour on Monday, with a possible meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.<\/p>\n<p>The footballer won his second consecutive Major League Soccer Most Valuable Player award this week after propelling Inter Miami to the MLS title and leading the league in goals.<\/p>\n<p>The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward will spearhead Argentina\u2019s defence of the World Cup in June-July in North America.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n            setTimeout(function(){\n                var scriptElement=document.createElement('script');\n                scriptElement.type=\"text\/javascript\";\n                scriptElement.setAttribute=\"async\";\n                scriptElement.src=\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/front\/js\/lazysizes.min.js\";\n                document.body.appendChild(scriptElement);\n            }, 1000);\n            \/\/setTimeout(function(){ $('.medium-insert-images').find('figure').show() }, 3000);\n            var loadDeferredJS = function() {\n              var lazyloadjs = ['https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/front\/js\/lazysizes.min.js'];\n              var alljs = ['https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/front\/js\/ui\/thirdparty.js?ver=133'];\n              var jqueryjs = ['https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/front\/js\/ui\/jquery.min_new.js?ver=43'];\n              var bootstrapjs = 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[&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesofpakistan.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesofpakistan.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesofpakistan.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesofpakistan.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesofpakistan.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesofpakistan.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesofpakistan.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesofpakistan.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesofpakistan.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesofpakistan.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}