(UPDATE) BEIJING: Hundreds of jubilant fans greeted Lionel Messi as he arrived on Saturday in Beijing, where his World Cup-winning Argentina will face Australia in a friendly match next week. Lionel Messi AFP PHOTO Lionel Messi AFP PHOTOSeveral hundred others waited outside the team's hotel, not far from the banks of the Liangma River, popular with Beijingers for strolls. This is Messi's seventh trip to China, the last being in 2017, according to local media. "As I couldn't buy a ticket for the game, I booked a room in the same hotel as Messi and was hoping to catch a glimpse of him." World champions Argentina will play a friendly against Australia on June 15 at Beijing's newly renovated 68,000-capacity Workers' Stadium.

Source: Manila Times June 11, 2023 22:18 UTC