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Argentina are back in action on Tuesday with their second friendly of this international break against Curacao in Santiago del Estero. The Albiceleste beat Panama 2-0 last time out with late Thiago Almada and Lionel Messi goals. Curacao went down 2-0 to Canada in their CONCACAF Nations League clash which means they will finish bottom of Group C. Expect this to be another celebration and Messi and his victorious FIFA 2022 World Cup teammates more than anything else.

Here’s our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:

How to watch and odds

• Date: Tuesday, Mar. 28 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
• Location: Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades — Santiago del Estero, Argentina
• Live stream: Fanatiz

Team news

Argentina: Lionel Scaloni mainly went with his World Cup winners against Panama so expect greater rotation here. Messi is closing on his 100th goal with the Argentines while Almada’s chances have grown with his goal and Paulo Dybala, Lautaro Martinez, Leandro Paredes and Lisandro Martinez can all hope for starts. Lautaro Blanco, Facundo Buonanotte, Valentin Carboni and Maximo Perrone could all get their first senior minutes.

Curacao: Jurien Garri was sent off against Canada but not suspended for this friendly while Brandley Kuwas was forced off and is now a doubt here. Jeremy Antonisse could replace him while captain Cuco Martina and Juninho Bacuna as well as brother Leandro are some of the team’s more familiar faces.

Prediction

This one should be more straightforward than Panama was and greater rotation should mean that the battle to impress Scaloni produces some encouraging performances. Pick: Argentina 3, Curacao 0.

He might be in the twilight zone of his illustrious career but his insatiable appetite to find the back of the net every time he dons the ‘India Blues’ is what keeps 38-year-old Sunil Chhetri going. Chhetri, the third most prolific international scorer (84 goals from 132 matches) among active international players behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi , said his hunger to score is the same as it has always been. “I don’t want to sound pompous, but I feel that there aren’t many players who are as hungry to score as I am,” Chhetri said ahead of India’s match against Kyrgyz Republic in the Tri-Nation International football tournament in Imphal.

“My hunger to score is the same as it has always been, and it will be the same against the Kyrgyz Republic.” Having beaten Myanmar 1-0 in the first match on Wednesday last, India need just a draw in the last match of the tournament on Tuesday.

In the Myanmar match, Chhetri had found the target but the referee had disallowed the goal, ruling that he was offside. India head coach Igor Stimac had also claimed that Chhetri should have got a penalty for a foul on him by a Myanmar player. “Off-sides and penalty decisions are a part of the game, and you think about them for a certain amount of time, but then you move on and look forward to the next match,” said Chhetri, who made his India debut in 2005.

“What you rather do is to minimize mistakes and move on.” The talismanic striker also felt that joining the national camp just after losing the Indian Super League final for Bengaluru FC was like a boon.

“The national team camp gave us an outlet. If the camp wasn’t there, it would have been more difficult for us to cope,” Chhetri said, referring to Bengaluru FC’s defeat to ATK Mohun Bagan in the ISL final via penalty shootout.

“It’s not a switch of a button, but when you have to take the flight the next day to the national camp, it gives you a bit more in terms of what you are thinking. You come and see the set-up and it takes your mind far from the loss, you start training, and your mind is further.

“After months of hard work, when you lose a final (of ISL), you can go into a rabbit hole if you have time to think. But thankfully for us, we joined straight at the national Camp.” Chhetri warned his team-mates not to get complacent against their opponents on Tuesday.

“Kyrgyz Republic have physically strong and fast players. Don’t be fooled by what happened against Myanmar, because they are a top side. We have seen their last 10 games, and believe me when I say, they are a very good side,” he said.

“All the matches that we have played against them in the past have also been tough matches.” Chhetri was impressed with the support from the crowd who turned up to fill the Khuman Lampak Stadium to the brim against Myanmar.

“We got such amazing support from the crowd in the first game against Myanmar. This is the second time I have come here, and the first time that I’ve played in Imphal, but I understand why people of Manipur are crazy about football.

“I just hope that we can get a positive result against Kyrgyz Republic and hope we can give an amazing game to the people. I also saw a lot of travelling fans, as well as little girls and mothers come to the stands, and that is really good for the game.” The India captain also spoke about the motivating effect these matches could give to the younger players from the state, which has produced several international players, both men and women.

“Many of us who have been playing for a long time, we have not been here for matches. So watching all the Indian Football stars gives the younger kids that extra motivation,” said Chhetri.

“Even more than the others, seeing the likes of Suresh (Wangjam), Jeakson (Singh), Yasir (Mohammad) could really motivate the kids here, though judging by the sheer number of quality players that come out of this state, they do not need as much motivation.

“I just hope that as a national team, we can give them that much more to help them dream more,” he concluded.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Nitish Rana has been appointed stand-in skipper for Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 in the absence of Shreyas Iyer who suffered a back injury during the recently concluded Test series between India and Australia. Several media reports suggested that both Rana and veteran West Indies spinner Sunil Narine were being considered for the leadership role, but the franchise confirmed their decision on social media. Rana, who has been part of the KKR side since 2018, has led Delhi in white-ball cricket and he will be supported by senior cricketers like Andre Russell and Shakib Al Hasan .

“Kolkata Knight Riders today announced that Nitish Rana would captain the side in the absence of Shreyas lyer, who is recovering from a back injury. While we are hopeful that Shreyas will recover and participate at some stage in the IPL 2023 edition, we feel fortunate that Nitish, with the captaincy experience having led his state side in white ball cricket and the IPL experience he has had with KK since 2018, will do a great job,” KKR said in an official statement.

“We are also confident that under Head Coach Chandrakant Pandit and the support staff, he will get all the support needed off the field, and the highly experienced leaders in the squad will provide all support that Nitish may need on the field. We wish him the best in his new role and Shreyas a full and speedy recovery.”

KKR will play their first IPL 2023 encounter against Punjab Kings on April 1.

Players bought in IPL 2023 auction- Shakib Al Hasan (Rs 1.50 crore), N. Jagadeesan (Rs 90 lakh), Vaibhav Arora (Rs 60 lakh), Suyash Sharma (Rs 20 lakh), David Wiese (Rs 1 crore), Kulwant Khejroliya (Rs 20 lakh), Litton Das (Rs 50 lakh), Mandeep Singh (Rs 50 lakh).

Players retained ahead of IPL 2023 auction – Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Tim Southee, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh.

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Nguyen gave the Indian hell in their World Championship gold medal match, but still fell short. ‘And still’, the announcer screamed at the end of their match, confirming the result in favour of the local favourite.

Nikhat was the champion again – but it was a narrow victory, far narrower than she would have preferred. The girl from Telangana may have been the defending champ, but the Vietnamese has silverware of her own; two gold medals and a silver at the Asian Championships, and a bronze at the Asian Games.

“This was definitely tougher than my last Worlds gold. I did not have to put in the amount of effort, but the discipline in training and diet I had to maintain. I did not have a lot of time to prepare for this event after the nationals,” said Nikhat after the bout.

Signs of this being a tough bout came early in the first round itself. Tam’s slightly taller frame, along with some lightning-fast hand speed, started to worry the Indian corner. They soon dropped an instruction to Nikhat to increase her range and fight from the outside. Suddenly, the mid-range queen had to relinquish her throne and retreat to keep the fight alive.

While Tam was not connecting frequently, when she did, it was mostly when Nikhat would move into range. For the Indian in that first round, the choice was a straight right, followed by a looping left. Both punches would find their mark, but she’d also get tagged by the Vietnamese in the process. It seemed like a tough round to decide but all the judges scored in Nikhat’s favour. Her output in the exchanges was better, and her punches landed a tad bit cleaner than Tam’s. Tam was also penalised for clinching and docked a point. Refereeing is always questionable when the IBA is involved and it was no different in this title fight.

Fine margins

The second round was when things got messy for Nikhat. On the cards, her strategy was one that has been followed by the Indian team when leading after the first round – go all out, take the second and then coast in the third. Tam was prepared for it and stayed on the counter. A southpaw, she consistently waited for Nikhat to launch an attack and then got her on the counter. In the middle of the round, the referee docked a point from Nikhat, this time for fighting with her head down – another contentious call. Yet the round was again awarded to the Indian.

Often, Nikhat gets blitzed by her opponent. Roughing her up and charging with more punches is one of the approaches employed by boxers against her. In the final, Tam was starting to find success with the move.

The third round saw two standing counts, one each for Nikhat and Tam. Both were vicious punches that landed right where they were supposed to. But while they landed cleanly, it didn’t look like either of the boxers was hurt or merited getting a standing count. And yet, two wrongs somehow made a right and balanced out matters.

In that round though, Nikhat edged slightly ahead. The same story of the first round followed – both boxers would clash, but the volume and accuracy of the Indian was a tad bit better than her Vietnamese opponent. In the end, both retired to their corners, removed their gloves and headgears, and went to the middle of the ring.

The moment the words ‘unanimous decision’ were uttered, Nikhat pumped her arms and screamed at the crowd. She then fell to her knees and uttered a prayer before walking out of the ring – a newly- minted double world champion, only the second Indian after MC Mary Kom .

“It was a rollercoaster bout today. First she got a warning, then I got a warning, then each of us got a standing count. It was very close, especially in the last two rounds. But in the last round, I knew I had to stay true to my attacking strategy, and finally when they raised my hand, I was very happy,” Nikhat reflected after the tough bout.