Dhaka greets Messi today

MESSI FEVER GRIPS CITY: A young Messi fan tries on a jersey at the hawker's market in front of the Bangabandhu National Stadium, where Argentina will play an international friendly against Nigeria tomorrow. Inset, Lionel Messi.Photo: Anisur Rahman

After a month plagued by controversy, misinformation and belated changes of schedule, the dream of a million Bangladeshis is set to come true as the Argentina national football team will arrive in the capital today at 10:50 am to play a friendly international against Nigeria tomorrow.
Having negotiated the first-leg of their South Asian tour with a 1-0 win over Venezuela in a frenzied Kolkata on Friday, Argentina will arrive in Dhaka on a special Bangladesh Biman flight. The two-time winners will be led by the sensational Lionel Messi hoping to put on a show of the same magnitude to what they did at Kolkata.
After arriving at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, the South American giants will head straight to their accommodation at the Ruposhi Bangla hotel and will then hold the standard pre-match press conference at 12:00 pm.
The country will get the first chance to glimpse the South American stars when they gather for the open training session to be held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium at 6:30 pm.
15,000 tickets are up for grabs for the open session and tickets are still available at 40 different outlets in the city, like Nandos, KFC and Helvetia as well as the stadium gate and the BFF Bhaban.
Following the training session in the evening, Argentina will attend an official dinner at the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel for a section of invited guests and officials only.
The South Americans have not scheduled any events for the match-day tomorrow but the main event will kick-off at the Bangabandhu National Stadium from 6pm.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria football team including Chelsea star John Obi Mikel will also arrive in the capital today at 11: 20 am. The Africans will head straight for their accommodation at the Westin Hotel in Gulshan. They have not scheduled any practice sessions for today but will be part of the official dinner along with the Argentina squad in the evening.