India, Oct. 12 -- "Are you here for football?" If the answer is yes, conversation becomes as easy as finding the sea, sand and shacks from where you can savour both. A Panaji resident since 2022, the co-traveller on Sunday's Kolkata-Goa afternoon flight said she had booked tickets for FC Goa's home match against Al-Nassr on October 22 "in the hope Cristiano Ronaldo will travel." The staff at the front desk first inquired whether he would and then grumbled about ticket prices for the Asian Champions League 2 tie.

India barely staying alive in an Asian Cup qualifying group where they are the top seeds also came up and, though this is no indication of the temperature for Tuesday's tie, the message at the hotel near the stadium in Fatorda wa...