By Victor Kanayo
Indication emerged that the much anticipated international friendly between Argentina and Nigeria will now take place on March 26, 2024, in Los Angeles, USA.
Football superstar Lionel Messi is among top players expected to feature for the game.
Heritage Times HT reports that the venue – LA Memorial Coliseum is the stadium with 77,500 crowd capacity.
Botched Venue Planli
The game was earlier scheduled to be played in Shanghai, China, but the organisers have had a change of plans.
The match will come up four days after Argentina would have played against El Salvador at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Messi No-Show Rage
This is the seventh time that the legendary Messi will feature in a football match with Nigeria after the U20 World Cup tie in 2005, Beijing 2008 gold medal match, in World Cup matches in 2010, 2014 and 2018 as well as a friendly match in Dhaka in September 2011.
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Argentina were scheduled to play Nigeria in the Chinese city of Hangzhou before facing Cote d’Ivoire in Beijing, but Messi’s failure to take the field for Inter Miami in Hong Kong against a local League XI earlier this month caused widespread anger among fans.
Historical Perspectives
Argentina emerged world champions by defeating France in the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and are set to Dave Nigeria and El Salvador in their friendly games as preparations for the summer’s Copa America tournament.
Nigeria defeated Argentina 4-2 in their last international friendly game on 14 November, 2017, but are yet to beat the South Americans in competitive games having lost all but once in their FIFA World Cup meetings in 2002, 2010, 2014 and 2018.
After the friendly in March, the Super Eagles’ next official games would be in June 2024 when the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixtures against South Africa and Benin Republic comes around.
