Sachin, Messi, and World Cup Rituals
Embark on a fan’s journey from Sachin’s cricket era to Messi’s World Cup glory, exploring rituals, heartbreaks, and the magic of two sporting legends.
Chapter 1: Love for Cricket, Sachin and the 90s
Growing up in India, one invariably fell in love with cricket. And if you are a 90s kid, more so with Sachin than cricket. I remember the storm of Sharjah, his nervous 90s, the famous saying “Sachin out aipoyada, inka waste chusi,” which translates to “if we lost Sachin’s wicket, there is no point watching the game,” and finally, the heartbreak of the 2003 World Cup. I was one of the billion hearts who wished that Sachin gets to fulfill his dream so that the world will feel a little more complete. And win he did, in 2011!
Chapter 2: World cup celebrations, and regrets
I remember that tournament vividly! I was in my final year of B.Tech, and we’d watch the game in our game room. The room would be filled with cheers and cursing throughout the 6 hours and would end up with a blast of celebration with jumping, shouting, and occasionally breaking the chairs and getting penalized for it. All along, I was too scared to watch the games. I would just follow scores because the one time I tried to watch, India lost the game.
We made it to the final in the end, and hence I decided to break my ritual. This time the game was airing in an open theater! Everything was perfect, until it was not. Sachin lost his wicket in the first over. My heart sank! I couldn’t live through another World Cup final heartbreak like in 2003! Felt like I was jinxing the game. So, I’d just keep refreshing the scores on Chrome. And in the end, India won! After the game, our entire mural got onto the roads beating drums and parading the entire campus. Later, I would just dial random friends who I haven’t spoken to in years and celebrate with them for a brief minute before going on to the next person. But the one thing that bothers me till date is that I couldn’t live every moment of that game! Is the pain of loss so heavy that we give up the chance to make a memory for a lifetime?
Chapter 3: Moving on to Football, Messi, (and rituals)
Anyhow, right when Sachin was nearing the end of his career, I started exploring other sports because it was painful to watch cricket without Sachin in it. And oh boy, I met football (or soccer as we call it in the US)! Twenty years of cricket couldn’t do what a handful of years of soccer did to me. The beautiful game! And just like with Cricket, I found my idol — Lionel Messi. And now that I am sitting to write about Messi, I just realized how similar Sachin and Messi are — short, sweetest of smiles, love their family, live for their country and a billion hearts flutter with excitement when they are doing their magic!
Fast forward, I kept my traditions for all major tournament finals with Messi — the 2014 World Cup, the 2015 Copa America, 2016 Copa America where Messi lost. In fact, those losses weighed so much on Messi that he decided to retire from International football forever. But, thankfully he decided to come back! However, my rituals continued! Messi finally won his first international trophy with Argentina in 2021 during the Copa America in Brazil. And as usual, I didn’t watch the final. As soon as I read on ESPN that the game is over, I switched on the TV just to witness Messi lift the trophy. And then I saw a replay of the final moments of the game. About how Messi fell to the ground the moment he realized he won an international trophy with Argentina after facing defeat four times prior to that! It was one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, and I was mad at myself for missing that moment because I didn’t have the courage to live through the agony of a possible heartbreak once more.
Chapter 4: The final dance — World Cup 2023
Last year though, it was the final dance by Messi at the World Cup. And this time I decided to watch every game! Argentina weren’t the favorites to win, but it didn’t matter as long as I could watch Messi smile when he scores for Argentina. The first game, I woke up in the middle of the night (2 am I guess) to watch Argentina vs Saudi Arabia — and no prizes for guessing but Argentina lost. I was so sad for the next couple of days and almost contemplated if I should watch any of the games anymore. But I decided to be selfish and watch the games even if it meant Argentina loses — lol as if me watching changes anything…but you know how our stupid hearts work, especially when they are in love.
For the next game with Mexico, I actually went to a bar that was filled with Mexican supporters. I was half-joking to my friend Harshith when I said, they might thrash us if we celebrate Argentina’s goal. But I just needed to watch it and celebrate this last dance no matter what — well, one might argue we could have done it in a safer environment, but I wouldn’t change a thing about that day. Messi scored the first, clinical goal, and the entire bar that was brimming with Mexican patriotic songs just went dead silent. And my friend and I just stared at ourselves and let out a small smile while we both knew how we really felt in that moment! And since that day I watched every single game — and now with a new superstition… I need to watch the game for Argentina to win lol 😊
Argentina kept inching closer and closer to making Messi’s dream a reality. My heart rate would be abnormally high every time Argentina would be close to losing — only later did I realize that this will feel normal compared to what I felt during the World Cup finals. Some of these games were played during office hours. I’d work on the weekends so that I can block my calendar for a couple of hours during the week. And in one of the games, it went to penalty kicks which meant extra time. I had an important meeting to lead and so couldn’t watch the game in real-time. I let my team know I am tensed and that I am following the game. When my friend who was watching the game in the next room shouts, I would run to the TV in the middle of the conversation…cuss a little, pray a little, celebrate a little and come back to the team to apologize. I think that might have been one of the funniest, most memorable meetings I ever led.
Chapter 5: Dec 18th, 2023 — IYKYK
Fast forward, the World Cup final. Another dream, another few billion hearts. The last chance for Messi to win the World Cup. I set the alarm for 6:30 am, but I barely needed it. I woke up at least 10 times that night — sometimes thinking I missed the game, sometimes because Argentina won a penalty, and sometimes because Argentina was losing the game. But the next 90 minutes + 30 minutes of extra time + penalties was the single most important memory I will hope to remember for the rest of my life. The hope when we went 1–0 up after a Messi goal, and then 2–0 up all the way till the 79th minute! 10 more minutes + stoppage time, Argentina would be world champions! I was too scared to celebrate too early — because soccer is a cruel game! Fates change in seconds! And the unthinkable happened, France and Mbappe scored two goals in quick succession. My heart sank! The game isn’t over yet, but now we will need another goal to win or we go into stoppage time. France was a beast in those last minutes. Argentina barely made it to the extra time. Argentina once again took a lead in the extra time only to be neutralized by Mbappe in the final minutes with his third goal of the game — Mbappe…what a beast man! And then in the 123rd minute, a miracle happened. No, Argentina didn’t win (yet), but the Argentinian goalkeeper made the save of a lifetime to keep Argentina in the game. The game went to penalties and the goalkeeper heroics, Argentinian players’ calmness and a little bit of magic helped Messi get his first World cup.
Chapter 6: Gratitude and Hope
I say the first World cup because, this moment taught me that a man should never stop dreaming, never! When you are sincere, when you are religiously working towards a goal, when you have a heart that is willing to pound like a beast when the moment arises, when you have family, friends, and fans to pray for you…. the stars shall collude to turn your dream into a reality. So that in all its enormity, the chaotic universe can find a brief moment of harmony, balance and perfection. Like when we witness a rainbow from one end of the sky to the other, not just a glimpse of it. Like when you take a dip in the pool that has the perfect temperature, not too cold or not too hot, just the right amount. Like when you hold hands with your loved ones to watch the perfect sunset, not too dark or not too quick, just the right colors and the right amount of time. Like when Messi falls, cries, gets his heart broken again and again only to finally make everyone’s dream true! I am glad that in all the possible parallel universes, I live in the one where a magician who has brought smiles across the world for so many years, finally was able to take off the weight of the world from his shoulders and just smile with his family, with his teammates, with the Argentinians, with the fans across the world and with this stupid, superstitious Indian fan who tried all sorts of black magic and prayers to get Messi his World cup. Messi, I think you owe me one man. But nevermind because I/we owe you a lifetime of a priceless memory! Thank you for existing!
