In the third round of group matches at this year’s Copa America, defending champions Argentina comfortably beat Peru 2-0 without their star player Lionel Messi, securing a perfect record in the group stage and advancing to the quarterfinals.
According to a report by foreign media outlet The Post, during Argentina’s match against Peru, a Messi fan named Jas, traveling from Canada with his three children, spent $8,000 to attend the game but was disappointed not to see Messi in action.
Jas expressed his disappointment in an interview: “I’m very upset, but I understand the situation. If I have anything to say, I’m actually mad at myself for not considering this possibility (that Messi wouldn’t play) beforehand, as I should have been more strategic. If I had known Messi wouldn’t participate, I wouldn’t have even considered spending so much money on the tickets. I would have saved it.”
Jas revealed that each ticket cost him $1,200, totalling $4,800 for all, plus the flights from Toronto and accommodation near the stadium, which added up to the $8,000 expense for this father-child football trip.
Jas is not alone in this experience; Chinese fans who traveled to Miami for Inter Milan’s Hong Kong tour last year also seemed to have had a similar frustrating ordeal.
