Kerala’s teen fans distraught at Lionel Messi’s move from FCB to PSG
The Hindu
Messi fans from Kerala speak of how they felt when they heard the news that he was leaving Futbol Club Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain
Lionel Messi’s move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain was made official on August 8, shocking fans across the world. The Argentine captain had been playing for Futbol Club Barcelona (FCB, also known as Barca) since his competitive debut in 2004. Fans in Kerala were also distraught. On Instagram alone, there are more than 15 fan pages by Kerala-based fans with the number of members ranging from 3,000 to 90,000. Seventeen year-old Irin is a member of Messi Fans Kerala (MFK), one of the many social media groups dedicated to Messi. She would like to go by ‘Irin Leo’ but since she can’t she prefers to be ‘only’ Irin. “I did call myself that for some time, then changed my mind. It was seen as over the top,” says the Messi fan who hasn’t slept properly since the footballer left Barcelona and joined Paris Saint-Germain. She calls herself ‘_lapulga.girl’ [La Pulga Girl] on Instagram — one of Messi’s nicknames is ‘La Pulga Atomica’ (The Atomic Flea).More Related News