Carles Puyol and a fan-tastic tale

While entering the Taj Mahal, Puyol was frisked by a CISF personnel, who happens to be from Manipur. As he frisked Puyol with his metal detector, the security personnel very curiously asked the Spanish star, “There is this very famous football player, Carles Puyol. You look exactly like him. Do you also play football?”

Carles Puyol with the CISF personnel at the Taj Mahal in Agra on May 19.

It was an India trip, Carles Puyol will remember for quite long! The Spanish football star, who was in India earlier this month to unveil the tickets for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, came across an interesting incident during his short visit to the Taj Mahal.

Accompanied by his partner Vanessa Lorenzo, and LOC representative Amlan Das, Puyol visited the historic monument on the morning of May 19.

While entering the monument, he was frisked by a CISF personnel, who happens to be from Manipur.

As he frisked Puyol with his metal detector, the security personnel very curiously asked the Spanish star, “There is this very famous football player, Carles Puyol. You look exactly like him. Do you also play football?”

Unable to understand the exact conversation, the defender just had a smile on his face. His partner, however, was excited to hear that, and informed the security personnel that it was indeed Puyol.

Carles Puyol and Vanessa Lorenzo clicked pictures with the tourists.

 

Brimming with joy, he threw his metal detector aside and very excitedly asked for a photograph with Puyol. He also started narrating how big a fan he is, and how in his home state— Manipur— football is the most popular game.

“When Puyol visited India for the ticketing launch of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, numerous fans turned up from different parts of the country just to see the legend. Be it Mumbai or Delhi, I am sure even Puyol was astonished by the flow of fans that poured in. If you follow his Facebook page, he shared some of those instances,” Das, who accompanied the Spanish star to Agra, said.

Recalling the incident, he added: “But there were so many other stories which went unheard. This was one of such stories. When I accompanied him to Agra, I was so surprised to see the fandom he received over there. And this instance happened right at the entry gate. So for people who say football isn’t that popular in India, early in the morning, at the Taj Mahal, you should have seen how fans reached and flocked around Puyol when he visited the monument.”

As the couple visited the Taj Mahal, quite a few tourists gathered around them to click selfies and take autographs. After returning back home, Puyol even posted a few pictures on social media.

After all, some memories are just impossible to ignore!