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Messi vs. Ronaldo and the rest of Wednesday’s international fixture slate

MessiRonaldo (Getty Images)

No, the United States won't be playing Egypt on Wednesday, but the day's international fixture slate is still ripe with tantalizing matchups.

Among the headliners is the Argentina-Portugal tilt that will pit La Liga rivals Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo against each other for the first time on the international stage. Although both have had more individual success on the club level than on the international level, expectations are high that the two most-recent FIFA players of the year will put on a show in Geneva.

Other high-profile matches on the docket include a rematch of the 1998 World Cup final, as France and Brazil do battle in Paris, and a matchup between European powers Germany and Italy.

Looking to do a little Gold Cup scouting? CONCACAF is represented on the schedule as well, with Canada facing Greece, Mexico meeting Bosnia-Herzegovina in Atlanta, Costa Rica squaring off with Venezuela and Honduras going up against Ecuador.

Here's the schedule (TV listings as well) for all of Wednesday's international friendlies:

WEDNESDAY'S INTERNATIONAL FIXTURE SCHEDULE

7 a.m. – San Marino vs. Liechtenstein

9 a.m. – Andorra vs. Moldova

10 a.m. – Armenia vs. Georgia

10 a.m. – Belarus vs. Kazakhstan

10 a.m. – Greece vs. Canada

11 a.m. – Iran vs. Russia

11 a.m. – Latvia vs. Bolivia

11:30 a.m. – Macedonia vs. Cameroon

11:45 a.m. – Croatia vs. Czech Republic

12 p.m. – Azerbaijan vs. Hungary

1 p.m. – Israel vs. Serbia

1 p.m. – Turkey vs. South Korea

1:35 p.m. – South Africa vs. Burkina Faso

2 p.m. – Albania vs. Slovenia

2 p.m. – Estonia vs. Bulgaria

2:15 p.m. – Denmark vs. England – ESPN3.com

2:15 p.m. – Luxembourg vs. Slovakia

2:30 p.m. – Netherlands vs. Austria – ESPN3.com

2:30 p.m. – Belgium vs. Finland

2:30 p.m. – Malta vs. Switzerland

2:30 p.m. – Poland vs. Norway

2:45 p.m. – France vs. Brazil – ESPN2/ESPNDeportes/ESPN3.com

2:45 p.m. – Germany vs. Italy – ESPN3.com

2:55 p.m. – Argentina vs. Portugal – GOLTV

3:30 p.m. – Spain vs. Colombia – ESPN3.com

7:30 p.m. – Venezuela vs. Costa Rica

8 p.m. – Mexico vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina – Telefutura

8:30 p.m. – Honduras vs. Ecuador

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Which game(s) are you looking forward to the most? Do you see Messi and Ronaldo meeting expectations? How do you see the CONCACAF teams faring?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Who’s supposed to be compensated? Pretty sure thats the last thing on anyones mind in Egypt or in the US. The head of the US federation would never ask for compensation, if you want a competitive international fixture, fly the Brazilian B team or Spain B team in to the US.

    I don’t think right now would be a great time for a fixture anyway for our top players, they need to either rest or adjust to new clubs.

    Reply
  2. I always like watching our arch-rival Mexico play, especially when I can watch on a Spanish-language TV network like Telefutura. I’ll have my stopwatch ready to time the “GOOOOOOOOLLL” from the announcer when Chicharito does his thing. Do those guys even need to breathe?

    The 2:45PM time slot is stacked. France v Brazil? Italy v Germany? Argentina v Portugal? How can I decide? I’ll go with Messi v Ronaldo, but only since I can catch the other two on replay with ESPN3.

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  3. right now would have been a bad time for most of the US team anyways with so many players with new clubs and MLS training camps and a few injuries.

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  4. Does US get compensated for the failed USA-Egypt match? Although a wise decision, it seems like a wasted opportunity with few international fixture dates on the calendar.

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  5. WTF! Way to Advertise a game Mexico lol! I haven’t seen a single advert or heard a message for this game. they must be only targeting the Mexican and Bosnian population of Atlanta. Not like I was going to go anyway, but I’m just saying.

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  6. Brazil v France (the new era’s of footballs powerhouses)
    Argentina v Portugal (messi v. ronaldo two best players)
    Canada v Greece (I support the voyagers)

    in order of the games I’m interested in watching

    Reply
  7. Bosnian fans will be dwarfed 100 to 1.

    Kinda good to let our NT boys rest. In 7 weeks they’ll regroup for 2 friendlies, so that’s good. Let them continue their great form especially Dempsey.

    Reply

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