Messi Love: Kerala Fans’ Tribute Video Goes Viral

KOCHI:
The cutout was installed by a group of Albiceleste fans ahead of the World Cup spending around Rs 30,000. “We took around 12 hours overnight to bring it up, but strong winds the very next day brought it down. But with support from the local residents, including supporters of other teams, we managed to pull it back up by noon,” said Argentina supporter Fredin Sebastian. That was when Vipin arrived on the scene. “It was an excellent show of the collective. So, I decided to use Facebook Live and stream it on the church’s Facebook page,” said the priest.
The video went viral online, and to his astonishment, the assistant vicar got a phone call from Barcelona asking him if he’d like to submit the video for a contest organised by Messi’s website. “Our win shows that Chellanam is not merely a village which is always stricken by disasters and hardships. This proves we have a vibrant sports culture here. We have hundreds of youngsters playing football here and the World Cup is screened to a huge crowd every day,” said Vipin.
Though they have been recognised by Messi, among the greatest footballers of all time, and the international community, the people of Chellanam – on the outskirts of Kochi – are downcast when it comes to approval from local entities. “We don’t have a football club here. And the local clubs like Kerala Blasters only look for talent in the city which means a lot of talented footballers from the coastal area are ignored,” said Jithin Peter, a Chellanam youngster.