India, Dec. 13 -- "Please, calm down. It's 3 am. Go to sleep, please. Good night, please," a person in suits said with folded hands, his voice cracking slightly as he appealed to a sea of sleepless fans at Kolkata's Hyatt Regency Hotel. The moment, caught on video and widely circulated on social media by Saturday morning, summed up the scale of Lionel Messi's arrival in the city.

HT couldn't independently verify the identity of the person. The appeal came hours after the Argentine superstar landed in Kolkata at 2.26 am to kick off his GOAT India Tour 2025. While Messi was swiftly escorted out of the airport under heavy security, hundreds of fans made their way to the Hyatt Regency, where the footballer was staying, determined not to miss...