LONDON
Cristiano Ronaldo will try to outshine Lionel Messi on his second Old Trafford home-coming when the two best players in the world clash in a friendly between Portugal and Argentina on Tuesday.
Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford for the first time after leaving Manchester United in 2009 when Real Madrid beat United 2-1 with his winning goal in a Champions League tie in March last year, but he can expect plenty of support this time from fans who would love him to make a permanent move back.
The Portugal captain will not have it all his own way, though, given the backing the Manchester-based Argentine colony in coach Gerardo Martino’s squad can also expect in the two great players’ 27th clash though only the second at national level.
Messi, on top in their head-to-head record with 12 wins to Ronaldo’s seven and the remainder drawn, gave Argentina a 2-1 win with a late penalty in a February 2011 friendly in Geneva after Ronaldo had scored Portugal’s equaliser.
Elsewhere on a busy day of friendly fixtures, Scotland and England meet in the world’s oldest international fixture at Glasgow’s Celtic Park where they will renew their 142-year-old rivalry with both teams heartened by positive results in Euro 2016 qualifying.
Spain and World Cup winners Germany face off in another headline clash in Vigo in the first meeting between the European heavyweights since Spain’s 1-0 win in the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup.
The Spanish won the 2008 European Championship, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 in a four-year span. But the good times turned sour at this year’s World Cup in Brazil, when the defending champions were eliminated in the first round.
Germany also lost to Spain in the semi-finals of Euro 2008 but coach Joachim Loew stressed that the friendly is no chance for revenge, saying the defeats are too long ago “and play no role for either team”.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is out as Sweden face a powerful French team while Albania, who drew 1-1 with France on Friday, will look to claim another surprise result when they visit Italy.
Ireland are looking to get over the disappointment of their Euro 2016 qualifying defeat to Scotland when they take on the United States while Asian powerhouses Japan and Australia resume hostilities in an Asian Cup tune-up in Osaka.
Another warm-up for the Asian Cup sees South Korea trying to end their winless streak against Iran when the two rivals clash in Tehran while Uruguay will be without talisman Luis Suarez for their trip to Chile after the forward returned to Barcelona to regain full fitness following his four-month ban for biting.
Brazil, meanwhile, will be looking for a sixth successive win and a clean sheet since their dismal World Cup campaign when they tackle Austria in Vienna.
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