The Argentina national team have thankfully avoided serious harm from Hurricane Milton as they landed in Venezuela on Wednesday.
Lionel Scaloni’s squad, which features stars Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez and Rodrigo De Paul, had been training in Miami for a World Cup qualifier against their South American rivals.
Messi was involved in Argentina’s training camp in MiamiGetty
However, their preparation was disrupted by the lingering threat of Hurricane Milton.
The storm reached Category 5 status earlier this week with winds of 164 mp/h reported but has since been downgraded to Category 2.
A handful of sporting teams in Florida were affected by the storm as MLB side Tampa Bay Rays had the roof of their ballpark torn off while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ stadium was overcome with water.
The treacherous weather conditions meant the defending world champions were unable to fly in to Venezuela as early as they would have hoped.
The Venezuelan government’s decision to shut down its airspace for all Argentinian-registered planes added another element of chaos to Argentina’s travel plans.
Argentina flew out of Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday afternoon but because of the restricted airspace in Venezuela, they had to land in Barranquilla, a city in northern Colombia.
From there, they made their way to Maturin in Venezuela ahead of Thursday night’s fixture.
If the disrupted travel plans weren’t enough of a hindrance for Scaloni this international break, he has several selection headaches to take care of.
Argentina will be without superstar goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and defender Cristian Romero due to suspension.
Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister is unlikely to feature against Venezuela due to a groin injury while electric Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho withdrew from the squad due to injury.
The likes of Paulo Dybala, Marcos Acuna and Nicolas Gonzalez were not even selected due to injury and fitness concerns.
Despite the less-than-deal preparation for the Venezuela contest, Argentina remain favourites given they are No.1 in the world while Veneuzela sit 40th.
Scaloni’s side are also first in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying ladder on 18 points from eight games.
As for Venezuela, they are sixth with ten points.
