Ichhapur: While Argentina supporters across Bengal are planning community screenings and late-night celebrations for Sunday’s World Cup final, Ichhapur tea-seller Shib Shankar Patra will stick to a ritual he believes has already brought Lionel Messi luck once.The 59-year-old, whose three-storeyed house painted entirely in Argentina’s blue and white has become a pilgrimage site for football fans, has promised free tea for everyone and a community feast if Argentina lift the trophy. But when the match begins, he will shut himself inside his room and watch it alone.“While my family members will watch the match together and the club members will set up a giant screen outside, I will sit alone in my room and watch the match all by myself. I watched the final that way four years ago when Argentina won the World Cup. I will follow the same practice and hope Messi lifts the cup again,” Patra said.For Patra, Sunday’s final is far more than another football match. It is the culmination of a dream he has nurtured for decades — one that he hopes will end with Lionel Messi lifting the World Cup once again and adding the Golden Boot to his glittering legacy.A former club-level footballer, Patra transformed his modest home in Nawabganj, Ichhapur, into a shrine for the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner. Every wall, door, bedroom, kitchen and even the wardrobes are painted in Argentina’s iconic colours. A life-size statue of Messi greets visitors at the entrance, while his decades-old tea stall has evolved into an informal Argentina fan club where football discussions dominate every evening.Patra says the transformation did not happen overnight. He saved Rs 100 from his tea shop’s daily earnings for years to finance his dream, repainting the house piece by piece in sky blue and white.His devotion extends well beyond football. Every year, he organises a blood donation camp titled “Blood Donation for Messi“. On June 24 this year, he celebrated Messi’s 39th birthday by cutting a 39-pound cake and donating 39 saris, 39 sets of clothes and 39 children’s garments to the underprivileged.His passion has rubbed off on the entire family. Son Shubham, 19, says he has grown up watching his father’s unwavering devotion to Messi, while daughter Neha recalls how her father named his grandson Leo and constantly introduced him to football.The biggest moment of Patra’s life came when he met Messi during the football icon’s visit to Kolkata last year. Carrying photographs of his Argentina-themed house, Patra showed them to his idol, who examined them closely and kept one of the pictures. “I was speechless. Nothing I wanted to say came out. It felt like a dream,” Patra recalled.
