There is only one day left to review the Argentina national team, who will face each other Curacao in Santiago del Estero to close this post-Qatar friendly tour. But the game hides many interesting stories behind it, above all due to the peculiarity of the rival team, which has a town with just over 150,000 inhabitants, and due to players like Richairo Zivkovicwho suffers from air travel but accepted the call just to deal Lionel Messi.

Zivkovic is a 26-year-old Dutchman who wears the colors of FC Emmen, in the Eredivisie. He did all his training in the Dutch team, where he played for Sub-18, Sub-19 and Sub-20 and also played for Ajax. However, a family connection gave him the chance to play for the Curaçao team, which had sought him out from a young age. Though he’s always let the opportunity pass, this time, went another way…

What is certain is that on this occasion the proposal came with another flavour: that of being able to face the Argentine national team, world champion, and Messi, the captain of the champions. Zivkovic did not hesitate, and in an interview with the media northern dagbladShe recounted how she made the decision, which wasn’t easy either because she has to take pills to travel by plane.

“I had in mind an international career with Orange (Netherlands) or the Serbian national team, but at the moment I don’t think it’s feasible. And meanwhile Curacao kept asking. However, I was living abroad so I always took advantage of international breaks to get home. As I now live in the Netherlands again, when they contacted me again I thought: you know what? I just do it” Zivkovic recounted.

When asked about the possibility of facing Messi, the player didn’t hesitate. “Of course, that was also a reason to accept the invitation,” She said. And laughing, he commented that it’s an opportunity to avenge the Netherlands after that match against Albiceleste in the quarter-finals: “The possibility of being able to beat Lionel Messi (sportsman) and take revenge for the victory over the Orange. No, not crazy, ha. It’s a good deal, I’ve never been to Argentina. Soon I will enrich my experience”.

It was there that he revealed his dread of air travel. “I’m afraid of flying. This often causes me stress, especially during takeoff and turbulence. I often take a pill, but sometimes it doesn’t work. Flying, shall we say, is not my kind of sport. But I have to do it, I have no other choice” Zivkovic said.

“Many hours on the plane, about seven training sessions and two games. I discussed it with the coach, but in the end the choice was mine and I consider myself capable of coordinating things well. I can also handle lack of sleep and jet lag,” cZivkovic, who made his debut in the defeat against Canada last Saturday, is optimistic.