New Delhi, Dec. 12 -- For Ichhapur tea-seller Shib Shankar Patra and engineer-turned-entrepreneur Shamindra Ghosh, December 13, 2025, will be the day they have survived to see. Superfans of Lionel Messi, both Patra and Ghosh have been called to meet the Argentine superstar on Saturday morning for a special meet-and-greet.

Patra, 56, once a club-level footballer, went viral when he painted his entire three-storied house in Nawabganj with Argentina colours - blue and white before Messi's maiden visit to Kolkata in 2010. Not only outside, but Patra had also painted the same in the walls, doors and even wardrobes.

That's not all. He had turned his decade-old tea stall into an 'Argentina fan club' and installed a life-sized statue of Messi a...