In Pursuit of Messi: How a Kerala Woman Learnt Spanish, Moved to Spain for Leo

In a case of football transcending nationality, Jushna Shahin from Kerala has learnt Spanish to speak to Messi.

For Jushna Shahin, Lionel Messi has been the only constant in life.

Shahin first laid eyes on the Argentinian footballer when FIFA World Cup played on her TV screen in 2010 – the year 'God' coached 'Messiah'.

Shahin was 15 years old and cheering for La Albiceleste when football God Diego Maradona, who won the World Cup for Argentina in 1986, was crestfallen as Germany beat his national team. That year, a young Messi – now popularly called the Messiah of Argentinian football – walked away from the pitch after a 4-0 loss to Germany in the knockout stage of the 2010 World Cup.

Though Argentina's World Cup dream ended abruptly in 2010, Shahin, who hails from Pappinisseri in Kerala's Kannur district, went on to learn Spanish and even moved to Spain – for Messi.

Even as years went by with her studies, marriage, pregnancy, and the travails of a mundane job, Shahin sought every opportunity to meet the footballer.

Now, in 2022, as Argentina is about to take on France at Lusail Stadium in the final match of the FIFA World Cup tournament, Shahin is in Qatar, as a sports journalist, seeking an interview with Leo.

This is Jushna Shahin's tale, and perhaps that of millions of immigrant Argentina fans from India, who were initially branded as "fake, paid" supporters when the FIFA World Cup kicked off in Qatar. Though they are not Argentina's home fans, their love is deep, and the extent to which they would go for Lionel Messi is, sometimes, unimaginable.

"I felt that Leo had something to say. I wanted to hear from him what he had to say. But he spoke only in Spanish," Shahin told The Quint.

Learning Spanish for Football That Transcends Nationality

In November 2022, when around 40,000 Argentina fans reached Qatar, thousands of Indians wearing Argentina colours were already gripped by the World Cup fever. Many of them were from Kerala, a state where football is widely appreciated and fights often break out between Brazil and Argentina fans.

Kerala also has supporters of other footballing nations including Portugal, England, and now, Morocco.

However, initial reports from international media doubted that these "unusual fans" were paid to cheer, presumably because they "looked nothing like Argentines." Racist?

Qatar has a population of 7.5 lakh immigrant Indians. The World Cup authorities clarified:

"We thoroughly reject these assertions, which are both disappointing and surprising. Qatar, and the rest of the world, is comprised of a diverse range of football fans many of whom share emotional connections with multiple nations."

Meanwhile, Jushna, whose message to Messi in Spanish has now gone viral, said:

"I first tried learning Spanish at home but that was tough. Right after Class XII, I applied for an integrated MA in Spanish at Jawaharlal Nehru University and got through."

Shahin was in JNU when Messi's Argentina reached the 2014 World Cup final to bow out to Germany, 1-0.

To pursue Spanish and Messi, Shahin went to great lengths. "My parents would not have agreed to let me learn Spanish had they known I was learning it to interview Messi. They would have been worried that I won't have any career prospects to pursue. But I convinced them by saying I would apply for UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) exam and try for an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) post, and that knowing Spanish would be of help," Shahin laughed.

In 2018, when Argentina lost to France in a round of 16 knockout match, Shahin was thinking of ways to relocate to Barcelona. But she got married in early 2019.  

Love, Pregnancy, and Move to Spain   

When Shahin told her husband, Awad Ahmed, that she wanted to live in Spain to be close to Messi, he did not stand in her way, she said. "I got a job as an English teaching assistant and moved to Andalusia. I was still 1,000 kilometers away from Messi."

Messi was playing for Barcelona Football Club at the time and lived in Barcelona, Spain.

Shahin's husband also moved to Spain to be with his wife. "He always says jokingly that Messi is the one who messed up his life," Shahin said, appreciating her husband's love for her.  

She daydreamed when she watched Messi score a goal for Barcelona against Sevilla in a 2019 match. "In the stadium, I stood holding a placard that said I had waited for that moment for 13 years. I imagined he would see it and meet me," Shahin said.

Shahin and Ahmed even reached Barcelona's office to hand over a letter she had written for Messi. But she kept working towards securing an interview with the star, as Messi, according to Shahin, had "a lot to say." Ironically, the Argentine has given very few interviews during his career and has always been soft-spoken and "camera-shy."

Between match days and yearning for Messi, Shahin gave birth to her daughter – Eva Iyrene. "I had to leave Spain and move to Kerala for delivery as this was also when COVID-19 was at its peak. Just two days after I left Spain, I got accreditation to cover Messi's match," she said.

Her arduous journey in pursuit of Messi didn't end there. Shahin returned to Spain with her newborn because Kerala kept her love for football alive.

In Kerala, football is as popular as cricket, and FC Cochin was one of the most preferred teams till the 2000s. Currently, the state has Kerala Blasters, a football club that is widely liked. However, in the state, loyalty to foreign football clubs and national teams of foreign countries is considered normal.

Shahin was a nursing mother when she got accreditation to cover Real Madrid's match against Paris-Stain Germain FC in 2021. Messi left Barcelona FC and joined PSG in 2021. She travelled to Paris in February 2022 to see Messi again and even watched one of his training sessions in close proximity.

"I wanted to run to him. But kept asking myself, 'Do you want a selfie with Messi or an interview with him?' I preferred the latter and decided not to do anything rash," Shahin said. It was a tough time for her as she was battling postpartum emotional distress, but Messi was still the dream.

A Journalism Degree To Meet Messi

One month before the World Cup started, Shahin enrolled for a Masters' programme in Sports Journalism at Real Madrid Graduate School, Madrid. "I felt that if my dream is big, I will have to take big steps to reach it. I felt if I become a fulltime sports correspondent I would get an interview with Messi," she said.

Now, Shahin lives in Madrid, away from her daughter and husband who live in Vigo. "I travel every weekend to meet them," she said. In Qatar, she haunts the press galleries looking for those who can get her the coveted interview.

The World Cup final, scheduled to be held on Sunday, 18 December, is expected to be Messi's last international match.

But why does she love Messi so much? According to Shahin, and perhaps many Messi fans, he is "the greatest of all times…truly a skilled G.O.A.T."

When The Quint asked Shahin what she would ask Messi if she meets him, she said, "I don't know. I am not sure when it will happen. But even if it happens after ten years, I will be happy."

By then, Messi would have hung up his boots. The Albiceleste player is known to be one of the most skilled footballers of all time and is often compared with Argentina's Diego Maradona and Brazil's Pele. Will Messi emerge as a winner in 2022? The coming Sunday, Jushna Shahin will be among millions of Indians to hope that he does.