KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Reigning World Cup champion Argentina arrived in Kansas City on Sunday to begin p reparing for its title defense, which starts with a match against Algeria on June 16 at Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Chiefs.
The 11-hour flight covering more than 5,500 miles from Ezeiza International Airport touched down in Missouri just after 11 a.m. local time. The flight number for the Aerolineas Argentinas charter was 1978, an homage to the 1978 World Cup that Argentina won as the host nation over the Netherlands before more than 71,000 fans at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires.
The plane itself, an Airbus A330, also celebrated the Argentine squad with special livery. The No. 10 of Lionel Messi was featured on the tail amid the national team’s iconic blue and white stripes, while three gold stars represented its three World Cup titles.
Argentina is the first of four national teams making their World Cup home base in the Kansas City metro to arrive.
The Netherlands, England and Algeria — which will be at the University of Kansas in nearby Lawrence — are due to arrive this week.
Most of the Argentina squad arrived on its charter, though some players will arrive from clubs elsewhere in the world. After stepping off the plane, players and staff walked across the tarmac to waiting charter buses for the trip to the team hotel.
Messi and Co. will be staying at the Origin Hotel near downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Fences have been built around the property and extra security provided for the team, while inside the relatively new hotel, signage, posters and other nods to the team known as La Albiceleste are ever-present, including huge images of some of the team’s biggest stars on the outside of the building.
The team planned to spend Sunday doing light training in the hotel gym while awaiting the arrival of the rest of its players. Its first full workout is set for Monday at the Compass Minerals National Performance Center, the home of MLS club Sporting Kansas City.
Argentina plays Honduras in a friendly on Saturday at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, the home of Texas A&M. Its final tuneup is three days later against Iceland at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Alabama, the home of another SEC football team, Auburn.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni revealed his 26-man World Cup roster on Thursday. It is headlined by Messi, who turns 39 in less than a month, and features 17 players that were part of the team that triumphed four years ago against France in the final in Qatar.
Several players were in doubt because of injuries of varying severity ahead of the June 1 deadline set by FIFA for finalizing all World Cup squads. Among them was Messi, who is suffering from muscle fatigue and a mild strain in his left hamstring.
The club has said that his recovery time will depend on “his clinical and functional progress.” Messi will be playing in his sixth World Cup, having previously participated in Germany, South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Qatar.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup.
