Fan frenzy: Icchapur tea stall sports shades of Argentine soccer club
Life-size statue of Messi installed in front of the outlet
KOLKATA: Ichhapur, a small town in North 24-Parganas district, has long been synonymous with a British-era rifle factory.The town, on the banks of Hooghly River, however, is now being associated with a new, more vibrant landmark -- an 'Argentina tea stall' -- which has become the "designated fan club" of football icon Lionel Messi and his country Argentina in the football-crazy state of Bengal.
The three-storied house of Shib Shankar Patra in Nawabganj locality, painted in Argentine colours, and the stall that he set up almost 30 years ago, has turned into the go-to destination for football 'adda' in the region abutting Kolkata.Numerous posters and portraits of Messi are scattered across Patra's house and the tea stall, besides Argentine flags and other merchandise.The locality has been further decked up for the FIFA World Cup, which got underway on Sunday.
A gigantic 120 feet by 20 feet flag and huge posters of all the 11 members of the Argentina team taking part in the World Cup now welcome visitors to the stall. A life-size statue of Messi was also installed in front of the shop on Sunday, in a tribute to the Argentine wunderkind, who will play his last World Cup in this edition. A club-level footballer, Patra has been a die-hard Argentina fan since Diego Maradona's 1986 World Cup glory. But, Messi's wizardry took his fandom to new heights, and in 2011, after watching the football star during an exhibition match at a packed Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, Patra decided to give his house and the stall an Argentina makeover.
