NEW DELHI: The Lionel Messi GOAT India Tour concluded with its Delhi leg on Monday, as the Argentine football icon was welcomed at the Arun Jaitley Stadium by ICC chairman Jay Shah, Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta, DDCA president Rohan Jaitley, and former Indian football team captain Bhaichung Bhutia.

In a special gesture, Jay Shah presented Team India's newly unveiled World Cup jersey to Messi, along with his Inter Miami teammates Luis Suárez and Rodrigo De Paul. The former BCCI secretary, Shah, also gifted a ticket for the T20 World Cup match between India and the USA, scheduled to be played at Wankhede Stadium on February 7.

Messi's tour that began in shambolic fashion ended in a blaze of glory as devotional fans joyously gathered to catch a glimpse of a man that does things on the field that are often beyond human comprehension.

Most importantly, the much-publicised and anticipated event had the ending it wanted, after a chaotic beginning in Kolkata on the tour's first stop on Saturday.

The thousands of heads totting the stands at Kotla, as well as the few Indian celebrities and dignitaries inside the ground, basked in the euphoria of hosting one of the world’s most recognisable and bankable athletes at an extravagant event.

Upon arrival, Messi took a lap of the ground smiling, and watched the 7x7 celebrity match coming to an end, even as the spectators, many of whom were dressed in the famous blue and white Argentine jersey bearing No. 10, chanted his name continuously.

He was then standing there waving to the stands smiling, something he tried to do in Kolkata too but could not as, unlike the Arun Jaitley Stadium, he was crowded by too many people, including politicians and their aides, at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.