Lionel Messi supporters in Indonesia have expressed their disappointment on Friday after the star withdrew a friendly in Jakarta.
More than 60,000 tickets for the sold-out match on Monday between Indonesia and World Cup champion Argentina have already been purchased by eager fans after Messi’s image appeared prominently in event marketing.
One of these supporters traveled 12 hours by boat and air to the match but has now accused the organizers of deceptive advertising.
After many days of speculation, the football-obsessed nation’s supporters learned on Thursday that their idol would not participate.
“I’m feeling sad and disappointed, mixed emotions,” 31-year-old shop owner Surya Wijaya Ang told AFP from the remote island of Banda Neira in the eastern province of Maluku.
“This was the biggest chance for me to see Messi play in person.”
On Thursday the Albiceleste beat Australia in another friendly in the Chinese capital Beijing, with head coach Lionel Scaloni confirming that Messi would not make the Indonesian leg of their Asian tour.
✅ RESMI: Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria, dan Nicolas Otamendi tidak akan hadir ke Indonesia! 😭
(via @gastonedul) pic.twitter.com/xP8tP1edPc
— Extra Time Indonesia (@idextratime) June 15, 2023
What The Indonesian Fans Said
Having become a major fan of Messi during the star’s time at Barcelona, Ang has amassed a collection of around 200 shirts adorned with his name. He is planning to take a boat to the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon before catching a four-hour flight to Jakarta to attend the match.
Ang sold seven shirts from his wider jersey collection to pay for the 1.2 million rupiah (US$80) match ticket, a steep price in the lower-middle-income country.
The Messi fanatic is aggrieved and said organisers had seemingly promised an appearance by the superstar.
“Messi is an icon and you can say that 90% of the tickets were sold because of Messi,” he said.
“This was a marketing strategy for them.”
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Despite having his Messi hopes dashed, Ang said he would travel to the capital for the game anyway.
“I’ve come this far, so I will still be going,” he said.
“Maybe I will see Lionel Scaloni,” he added, laughing.
Other Indonesians took to social media to convey disappointment. One offered to sell two tickets “because Messi is not coming.”
A video posted on Twitter showed a fan singing a guitar ballad with the lyrics: “Why don’t you come to Indonesia? Why you don’t come, oh Mr Messi?”
Another wrote: “This is the end of my idolising him… we won’t beg him to come.”
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