World number two Argentina will play 157th-ranked Singapore in an international friendly at the National Stadium in Singapore on Tuesday.
The Albiceleste are heading into the match on the back of an impressive 1-0 win over arch-rivals Brazil in a friendly at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last Friday. On the other hand, V Sundramoorthy's Lions succumbed to a shock 2-1 defeat against lower-ranked Chinese Taipei in their AFC Asian Cup qualifier on Saturday at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
While Singapore fans have been disappointed by the absence of Lionel Messi, who left the Lion City in order to prepare for his wedding on 30 June, Argentina still have strong side at their disposal. Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain and Manchester City star Nicolas Otamendi will also not be part of Jorge Sampaoli's side.
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Inter Milan's Mauro Icardi is likely to be handed his second senior cap in four years and the in-form striker is all set to replace Higuain. Paulo Dybala will be the one to watch out for on Tuesday as the Juventus forward is capable of running riot.
On the other hand, Sundramoorthy's men will miss forward Khairul Amri due to illness. It will an uphill task for the Asian minnows especially after their morale-wrecking defeat to Chinese Taipei.
If their goal-scoring form is anything to go by, Singapore, who have netted only seven in their last 14 international A games, are unlikely to trouble the Argentine defence. However, the onus will be on their backline, which is expected to be led by the young and promising Irfan Fandi, to stop the likes of Dybala and Di Maria from running away with the fixture.
Fandi has been impressive at Home United as centre-back and he will draw support from experienced campaigners of the likes of Daniel Bennett and Madhu Mohana. Regardless of the result, it will be a good experience for Sundramoorthy's young side to learn from their high-quality opposition.
Singapore
Possible XI: Sunny; Jantan, Bennett, Irfan, Madhu, Hameed; Ramli, Hamzah, Hariss, Shafiq; Nizam
Argentina
Possible XI: Romero, Mammana, Maidana, Mercado; Tagliafico, Bigila, Banega, Di Maria, Dybala, Acuna; Icardi
