Indonesia fans vexed after Messi pulls out of friendly
![Indonesia fans vexed after Messi pulls out of friendly](https://globalnewsx.com/wp-content/uploads/https://onecms-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/s--CLqGIX3z--/fl_relative,g_south_east,l_one-cms:core:watermark:afp_watermark,w_0.1/f_auto,q_auto/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200/v1/mediacorp/cna/image/2023/06/16/000_33jx4yq.jpg?itok=N8v9yTve)
He is planning to take a boat to the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon before catching a four-hour flight to Jakarta to attend the match.
Ang sold seven shirts from his wider jersey collection to pay for the 1.2 million rupiah (US$80) match ticket, a steep price in the lower-middle-income country.
“MARKETING STRATEGY”
The Messi fanatic is aggrieved and said organisers had seemingly promised an appearance by the superstar.
“Messi is an icon and you can say that 90 per cent of the tickets were sold because of Messi,” he said.
“This was a marketing strategy for them.”
Other Indonesians took to social media to convey disappointment, with one offering to sell two tickets “because Messi is not coming”.
A video posted on Twitter showed a fan singing a guitar ballad with the lyrics: “Why don’t you come to Indonesia? Why you don’t come, oh Mr Messi?”
Another wrote: “This is the end of my idolising him… we won’t beg him to come.”
Indonesian football has been enduring a year of crises with a deadly stadium crush and losing the rights to host the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
Despite having his Messi hopes dashed, Ang said he would travel to the capital for the game anyway.
“I’ve come this far, so I will still be going,” he said.
“Maybe I will see Lionel Scaloni,” he added, laughing.
Source: CNA