The Indonesian province of South Sumatra may soon be graced with the presence of soccer deities Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi, according to former Governor Alex Noerdin, who is staging a provincial soccer tournament named after him.
Noerdin yesterday confirmed that he has secured commitment from Ronaldinho to feature in an all-star game and hold coaching clinics for children for the first edition of the Alex Noerdin Cup in March next year after first teasing fans about the prospect last month.
“For 2019, Ronaldinho has confirmed his attendance,” Noerdin said during a launch event for the tournament in the South Sumatra capital of Palembang, as quoted by JawaPos.
But it appears Noerdin has even greater ambitions than bringing just Ronaldinho to South Sumatra, saying that he has set his sights on the Brazilian’s former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi for the 2020 edition of the Alex Noerdin Cup.
It’s quite understandable that Ronaldinho would accept offers to guest star at obscure events like this — at least relative to the global limelight he once enjoyed — having retired from professional soccer in January of this year. By November, he reportedly had less than six euros in the bank and owed the Brazilian government around 2 million euros. He was also effectively relieved from ambassadorial duties for his former club Barcelona due to his public support for far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
But scoring Messi would likely represent an impossible task for Noerdin. The 31-year-old Argentinian is still in his prime for Barcelona and is widely considered the GOAT by those who truly understand soccer (that’s a dig at you, Ballon d’Or). On top of that, Messi came second behind Floyd Mayweather in Forbes’ list of highest paid athletes in 2018, earning around $111 million this year.
While Indonesia may not be an obvious destination for global soccer superstars, some did try their luck at playing in Indonesia’s soccer league for a last pay check in the twilight of their careers, such as former Chelsea player Michael Essien who joined Persib Bandung in 2017 (though that didn’t exactly work out).
