Messi, Mascherano and Ter Stegen ready for Argentina and Germany games

Messi, Mascherano and Ter Stegen ready for Argentina and Germany games

Argentina take on Bolivia (Saturday 2.45am CET) in the first of their two friendlies in the United States during the current international break Germany take on the leaders in Group D, Poland (8.45pm CET), in a qualifier for Euro 2016

Leo Messi and Javier Mascherano’s Argentina side take on Bolivia in the early hours of Saturday morning Central European Time in Houston in what will be their first game since ending the recent Copa América as beaten finalists. The clash with fellow South Americans Bolivia is the first of two matches on American soil, the second coming against current 2015 Gold Cup champions Mexico.  

The Argentine national side remain top of the FIFA rankings for their third month in a row. Coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino, confirmed that Leo Messi would make an appearance at some stage of the encounter. “We know that in every city we play in they want to see Messi and Houston will see him at some point.”

It will mark Leo Messi’s first game with his national team since he completed a decade representing the full ‘albiceleste’ side. In those 10 years he has become the youngest player to reach 100 caps with Argentina and he is the second highest top scorer of all time, just ten goals behind legendary striker Gabriel Batistuta.

Germany chase first place

Marc-André ter Stegen is in the Germany squad to face Poland on Friday (8.45pm CET) with top spot in Group D at stake as both countries look to book their place in Euro 2016 in France. Since losing to Poland 2-0 just under a year ago, Joachim Löw’s team have won three in a row in official competition but still trail their neighbours by a point.

After the test against Poland, Ter Stegen and the rest of the squad move on to Scotland where they will play their eighth game of the qualifying stages on Monday 7 September at 8.45pm CET.

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Força Barça

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