Messi’s Kerala tour with Argentina team for friendly game postponed

NEW DELHI: Argentina’s World Cup-winning icon Lionel Messi’s trip to Kerala for a friendly match has been postponed, sponsors announced on Saturday.

Argentina was supposed to play a friendly match against the Australian men’s football team at Kochi’s Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium on November 17, and the Argentina Football Association (AFA) had conducted an inspection of the venue back in September, as per Olympics.com.

The Kerala visit was part of the team’s provisional itinerary for friendly matches scheduled for this year’s FIFA International Window in November.

According to the sponsors, there was a delay in receiving FIFA’s permission, and they added that the match would be rescheduled to the next international window. No dates have been announced as of yet.

Messi’s last visit with the Argentina team to India came back in 2011, when they faced Venezuela in a friendly match at Kolkata’s iconic Salt Lake Stadium.

However, he will visit India for an individual tour, the event titled ‘GOAT India Tour 2025’ will cover Kolkata (Eden Gardens on December 13), Mumbai (Wankhede Stadium on December 14) and Delhi (Arun Jaitley Stadium).

Messi, now 38, is an Olympic gold medalist, a FIFA World Cup 2022 winner, and a two-time Copa America champion. At club level, he is best known for his association with Barcelona from 2004-21, after which he represented Paris Saint-Germain. He is currently representing Inter Miami in the USA as part of Major League Soccer (MLS). (ANI)