After the confirmation of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) about who will be the second rival of the Argentine National Team for their friendly matches, the government of Santiago del Estero ratified this Thursday that the Scaloneta will play on March 28 at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades against the Curacao team.
It will be a new celebration of Lionel Messi and the rest of the players together with the fans, after the third world Cup obtained in the World Cup Qatar 2022. Thus ended the uncertainty regarding the date and venue in which those led by Lionel Scaloni they would face the Caribbean team.
On the morning of this Friday, the coach announced the list of summoned for the friendlies against Panama and the mentioned curacao. It still remains to confirm the schedule, when the tickets and their prices will go on sale.
Where is Curacao?
Located off the north coast of Venezuela, Curaçao is a small country belonging to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 162 thousand inhabitants and until 2010 it belonged to the Netherlands Antilles. Although it is not part of the European Union, its inhabitants have Dutch nationality.
The Curacao team and its stars
The country has a short history in the world of soccer: He joined FIFA in 2011 and it was only then that he became an official National Team. and if well He did not manage to play any World Cup, in the last qualifiers he had a historic performance and was only eliminated in the second phase, after losing against Panama.
A nivel regional, became champion of the Caribbean Cup in the 2016 and 2017 editions and played two Gold Cups in 2017 (eliminated in the group stage) and the recent one in 2019 where they finished second in the group, below Jamaica and eliminating Honduras and El Salvador. In the quarterfinals they lost to the United States 1-0.
His maximum referent is the goalkeeper Ergilio Hato, known as “the black panther”, who played all his life for Jong Holland. The country’s main soccer stadium is named after him in his honor, following his retirement. One of the current figures is Cuco Martina32 years old and captain of the national team, who has always played in Europe: he currently plays for the NAC Breda of the second division of the Netherlands.
According to Transfermarkt, a site specializing in soccer market values, the most valuable Curaçao soccer player at the moment is Juninho Bacunawith a value of 4.5 million euros, who plays in the Birmingham of the second division of England. follows him Leandro Bacunabrother of the first, with 1.2 million euros, player of the Watfordfrom the same English league.
How Curaçao fared in the qualifiers for Qatar 2022
curacao won group C of the first round of the qualifying rounds of the CONCACAF for him World Cup Qatar 2022: they added 10 points after three victories and a tie and their rivals were Guatemala, Cuba, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the British Virgin Islands.
In the second round, the previous step to get into the octagonal final from where the qualifiers for the world Cupthey fell 2 to 1 on aggregate against Panama, precisely the other rival of Argentina on this date of friendlies. The panañemos would then be four points behind Costa Ricaselection that was left with the place of the repechage.
When will Argentina play the first friendly match of 2023
The first match against Panama will be on March 23, at the Monumental stadium, In Buenos Aires city. On the 28th of that month, Panama will face Costa Rica for the Concacaf Nations League. For this reason, the federation of the Central American country must request a special permit to play matches from two different confederations in the same week.
Fans await the moment when tickets go on sale to see Messi lift the Cup in Buenos Aires. The Monumental now has a capacity of 83,000 people, after the latest renovations. There is still no official information regarding the ticket sales process.
The last time Argentina played in Buenos Aires was against Venezuela on March 25, 2022, in the Bombonera, for the World Cup Qualifiers. At that time, tickets were available at the self entry, and the prices were from $3,900 for the popular one and between $5,500 and $14,500 depending on the location in the stalls. Updated for inflation, prices today will be around $7,400 for the public and between $10,400 and $27,500 for the audience.
