Paris has a new Sun King with Lionel Messi (34). The Argentine superstar was presented to the football world today as the newest member of the PSG family. These are the impressions of our reporter in Paris.
“A concise zone at the stadium was reserved for the supporters and several thousand fans had settled there,” says news reporter Olivier De Wilde.
“When Lionel Messi first appeared on the screen, they went crazy. They went crazy.”
“After that they were all neatly listening to what Messi had to say. I assume that roughly 90 percent of those present did not understand a word of Spanish, but they hung on his every word with every word.”
“I also noticed that god status during the conversations with the PSG fans: they don’t believe it themselves yet. Until a week ago they thought he would stay at Barcelona and now he is in Paris. That drives them completely crazy.”
The supporters were and are queuing en masse at the fan shop. “I saw a queue of 300 to 400 people. Those who had obtained a sweater, had their picture taken with a wide smile.”
“I even saw a duo come out with a shirt and immediately start lining up again after a call from a friend with his order.”
Watch the report in Het Journaal:
“The wealthy chairman is highly regarded here”
The historic football moment especially attracted many young people to the Parc des Princes.
“They made a fool of it, but you also saw a striking number of women. I saw many young couples who wanted to experience this together. And even though the performance was already done around 11.45 am, they continued to party until 2 pm and chant Messi’s name. “
And yet PSG still seems to go hand in hand with a rather artificial atmosphere due to the bank account in Qatar. “You can’t ignore that impression. You can’t ask the fans present to name 5 basic players from before the financial turnaround.”
“You might also think that some fans have an aversion to that foreign money, but you don’t hear them complaining. On the contrary: chairman Nasser Al-Khelaïfi is held in high regard.”
“When he spoke, everyone listened politely and there was always applause. They may also think: without this man we were still fighting relegation.”
“So the attendees were not all supporters from the first hour, but they admit that and they embrace the current context.”
Our man on site spoke to ecstatic PSG fans:
“Messi takes over this whole city”
Is the real Parisien who didn’t come to the stadium awake to the arrival of Lionel Messi? Does he or she even know what’s going on?
“Yes, it is,” estimates our reporter. “Half an hour from the stadium you still see Argentine shirts, you constantly hear Messi and Neymar popping up in conversations and the PSG flags flutter from the cars.”
“So that PSG vibe is there. It is logical, because Messi takes over and takes the whole city.”
