Chennai: Kerala sports minister V. Abdurahiman has good news for football enthusiasts across the country. At a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram Wednesday, the minister said that Argentina’s national football team, La Albiceleste, including its captain Lionel Messi, will play a friendly international match at a stadium in Kerala next year.
The opposing team and venue in the state will be decided soon, he said, adding that the official announcement on the match will be made within two months by delegates representing the Argentinian football team in Kerala.
Abdurahiman’s announcement came two months after he travelled to Spain to hold talks with the Argentine Football Association.
In June last year, La Albiceleste—which won the 2022 FIFA World Cup—approached the All Indian Football Federation for two friendly matches in India. But India declined Argentina’s request due to budget requests.
Post this, Abdurahiman vowed to explore possibilities to bring the team to the southern Indian state. The team has a huge fan following in Kerala.
Messi and Argentina’s last visit to India was in 2011 to play a friendly match with Venezuela. The match, held at Kolkata’s Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan stadium, reportedly had over 70,000 spectators.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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