Sports Burst: The Return Of The Kings
Messi and Ronaldo end international time-outs to return to countries in a frenzied Friday of action
by Tim Stannard
Messi is back in action for another Argentina reboot in Venezuela friendly
The glory of representing your country.
The honor of having the hopes of your nation at your feet.
The fact that the game is just down the road and there's not too much going on this weekend anyway.
Gonzalo Higuain is not there.
Those are the four motivational factors for Lionel Messi's return to the Argentina fold today in a friendly clash against Venezuela in Madrid after a post-World Cup period of rest, reflection and probably a small amount of sulking.
"It's a great joy to see him back," declared Argentina boss, Lionel Scaloni, after his superstar charge checked his agenda and confirmed that he had time to squeeze in a couple of games, which, of course, are both live and exclusive on beIN SPORTS.
Friday's match at Atletico Madrid's ground will be another experiment in the nature versus nurture debate for Messi. The footballer is in outstanding form for club, but can this be translated for country in a line-up that is not exactly stuffed with superstars with Messi set to start up front with Inter's Lautaro Martinez and Gonzalo Martinez of Atlanta United.
Well, find out for yourselves by joining Phil Schoen and Ray Hudson on the call for Argentina v Venezuela at 3:50PM ET / 12:50PM PT.
And if you want a bit of a teaser to the day's action then the Sports Burst live show has you covered at 12PM ET / 9AM PT on our beIN SPORTS USA Facebook page.
Ronaldo also ends a self-imposed exile with Portugal return
Elsewhere across the Old Continent and the first round of qualifiers for the 2020 European Championships continue on Friday although there are not exactly any games to set the pulses racing.
Portugal's defence of the trophy begins with Cristiano Ronaldo also returning to the international team having "pulled a Messi" by taking a leave of absence after the World Cup. England is taking on the Czech Republic while the World Cup winners of France at in Moldova.
Heading south of Europe and it's a huge weekend for African football with the final round of qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations 2019 which takes place this summer in June.
14 teams have qualified and there are 10 spaces left. Cameroon and South Africa are two big cheeses that still have work to do. The action gets underway live on beIN SPORTS at 12:50PM ET / 9:50AM PT with Botswana against Angola.
The XTRA will bring you the best of all the day's action at 7PM ET / 4PM PT
Antoine Griezmann could lead to Neymar's move to Madrid
So, football is fun...but transfer gossip is even more entertaining and there is a huge amount of it today.
Antoine Griezmann could play a big part of the summer's market with the Atletico Madrid looking set to leave the Rojiblancos this summer. One dimensional thread has the footballer moving to PSG which could then trigger Neymar's move to Real Madrid. Now that's a transfer that could be a win-win for everyone. Except Atletico. But...them's the breaks.
Manchester United is set to be doing a huge amount of business over the summer. Whether Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is leading it is another matter for another day. Ander Herrera could be on the move to PSG with the footballer out of contract with United this summer, while Harry Maguire is reportedly a number one target for the backline.