Jean Lowrie – Chin

When we first heard the news, we only half-believed that the great Messi, my husband’s pick as best in football, was coming to Jamaica. It was a chance we could not miss and we booked our tickets while he was pondering which Messi shirt he would be wearing on the big night. We had journeyed to the Barça Camp in Barcelona with hopes of catching sight of the legend, so, yes, he decided on the Messi-Rakuten T-shirt he had bought there. Of course, I would be in my black, green, and gold, no question about that. Messi-mania became apparent on Thursday morning when there were traffic snarls all over Kingston. The entire Jamaica was descending on Kingston — teams from clubs and schools as well as “diehearted” fans.

The traffic to the stadium seemed interminable, but as we opted for special tickets, parking was well organised. This was not the case in the designated area, however. The bracelets we wore were no guarantee for seats and where we saw vendors comfortably ensconced. There was not an usher in sight to assist us, so we had to find separate seats.

However, once Messi arrived on the field for his warm-up, all was forgotten, as we were on our feet chanting his name. The goal from the greatest of all time (GOAT) had us enthralled — we had actually seen a Messi goal right here in Jamaica!The social media posts have been funny and feverish right up to Friday with the hashtag #Messiinjamaica going viral. One suggested that none of our Caribbean neighbours could come close to Jamaica, as our bragging rights had reached new heights.

We saw a video of the fan who got Messi’s shirt and his friends taking turns to pose with it. We saw a security guard who got a clap from Messi almost brought to his knees with joy.The only stadium event in Jamaica which exceeded this was the 1998 World Cup qualifying match. That day, on our way home from the match, elderly folks were at their gates waving the Jamaican flag and cheering. If we had social media then, we would have broken the Internet.

A big thank you to all the organisations which made this event possible, bringing high occupancy to our Kingston hotels and Airbnb locations. Thank you also to Inter Miami CF for embracing Jamaica and flying our flag on its social media posts.

Messi was quoted as saying that he loves Jamaica and, yes, indeed, we love him back!

^{Source: Jamaica Observer}