Manchester United supporters’ ‘Come Home Ronaldo’ campaign looks like being an immediate success with Cristiano Ronaldo returning to Old Trafford as early as next month.
Sources close to the Argentine FA say an international friendly between Argentina and Portugal has been planned for November 18.
The game will give United fans another golden opportunity to pull at the Real Madrid forward’s heart strings by filling Old Trafford and calling for his return.
Ronaldo, speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, said of Manchester United fans’ decision to fly a banner over Spain: ‘I always said that I have a family at Manchester but I’m good in Madrid.
‘I’m glad of the affection that United fans have for me, it means that I have left good memories.’
It would also double up as an unoffical play-off between the world’s two best players with Messi facing Ronaldo just three weeks after they meet in the Santiago Bernabeu in the season’s first El Clasico.
The fixture is yet to be officially confirmed by the two countrys’ associations but Marketing Registrado have reported in Argentina that the marketing company responsible for the national team’s friendly matches ‘World Eleven’ has confirmed the duel.
England are due to play Scotland at Celtic Park on the same Tuesday so for once an international round of friendly fixtures will capture the imagination and not leave supporters hankering for the return of domestic action.
The two greatest players on the planet last faced each other on the international stage in 2011 in Geneva when Messi scored a late penalty to give Argentina the win. After this week’s Champions League matches Ronaldo leads Messi 69 to 68 in the race to beat Raul’s all-time record of 71.
Source: Daily Mail