“Thank you so much for the enthusiasm, Garuda friends,” the PSSI posted on Twitter on Tuesday, with a reminder to keep a lookout for Wednesday, the last day of ticket sales.

An early ticket sale for Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) cardholders also saw great demand, selling out in under 15 minutes. The PSSI said it had provided 60,000 tickets for the match and that only 20,000 remained for Wednesday’s ticket sales.

The international friendly match is part of Argentina’s “Asia Tour”, which will see the team play against the Australian national soccer team in Beijing, China, on June 15 before a game with the Indonesian team at the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Stadium in Jakarta on June 19.

The tour comes on the heels of Argentina winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and Indonesia winning the gold medal for men’s soccer at the 2023 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Cambodia for the first time since 1991.

“This is a great opportunity for Indonesian soccer to maintain its resurgence,” PSSI chief Erick Thohir said during a press conference on the Argentina match.

Argentina’s national team will bring most of its World Cup-winning squad on the tour, including famed striker Lionel Messi, who scored in a 2-1 win for Argentina at the World Cup final.

The tour announcement follows Argentina’s takeover as host of the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup in place of Indonesia, which was stripped of hosting duties in March over domestic resistance to the Israeli soccer team’s participation in the tournament.

But Erick has said the visit has nothing to do with Argentina “giving back” to Indonesia after becoming the tournament’s host.

“Don't associate football with politics. This is truly pure gotong royong [mutual cooperation]” between the nations, he said in a press conference on May 24.

The friendly match will also take place eight months after Indonesia suffered one of the world’s deadliest stadium stampedes at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java. More than 130 people died in the crush, which was caused by police officers’ unwarranted use of tear gas.

Although soccer is one of the biggest sports in Indonesia, the country has struggled to have a big break on the international stage since a single World Cup appearance in 1938 as the Dutch East Indies.

Indonesian soccer fans are, however, currently on a high from winning the SEA Games gold.

Argentina and Indonesia last met in the World Youth Championship in Japan in 1979, a match in which the late Diego Maradona played and Indonesia lost 5-0.

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