About 1,200 miles from home, Derek Pereira found his Holy Grail.
A banker and a die-hard Lionel Messi fan, Pereira travelled all the way from Santa Cruz, Mumbai, to see his hero and his teammates play at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Friday.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. There comes a moment in everybody’s life when all other things become immaterial. For me, watching Argentina and Messi is one such occasion. Now my life is made and I can die a happy man,” says Pereira. “I heard about Kolkata’s passion for football. Now I have become a part of it. This is a visit that I will treasure.”
Azad Maidan, the lifeline of Mumbai cricket, is more popular than the Cooperage ground among the city’s youths. For Pereira, however, it was different. Cooperage used to be the permanent venue for the Rovers Cup football tournament and a young Pereira fell in love with the game watching clubs like Mohun Bagan and East Bengal play.
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