Messi and Argentina to Face Costa Rica Instead of Nigeria: What Happened?
It was planned for the Albiceleste to face the runner-up of the AFCON in the United States in March, but finally, it will be the "tico" team as their opponent.
The Costa Rican national football team will replace Nigeria in the tour that Lionel Scaloni's Argentine team will make in March in the United States, following the cancellation of their Asian journey, official sources reported on Tuesday.
According to the Argentine Football Association (AFA) on its official website, "due to an administrative problem with visas," the African team will not be able to play against the Albiceleste, as planned, on March 26 in California. Therefore, the 'tico' team will replace the 'Super Eagles' in this FIFA window.
The 'Albiceleste' will make this friendly tour of the United States from March 18 to 26. On March 22, they will play against El Salvador at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, while, following the announced change, on the 26th, they will face Costa Rica at the Coliseum in Los Angeles.
This tour was initially going to take place in China but was canceled by the local Administration. It was not the only change in this schedule since initially, in addition to Nigeria, Lionel Messi's team was going to face Ivory Coast, the champion of the last Africa Cup, and then it was replaced by El Salvador.
Finally, Nigeria will not be the opponent, but Costa Rica, so both matches will take place against Central American rivals, making the excitement in the United States high, considering the large number of people from Latin America.
This adds to the impact of Lionel Messi's arrival at Inter Miami, in the Major League Soccer (MLS), led by the also Argentine Gerardo 'Tata' Martino, where other compatriots such as the newly signed Federico Redondo and Uruguayan Luis Suárez play.
The matches will be a good test for Argentina ahead of the Copa America, where the Albiceleste will try to defend the title won in 2021, the first of the 'Scaloni era', which continued with the Finalissima 2022 and Argentina's third World Cup - after those won in 1978 and 1986 - after their victory in Qatar 2022.
