The Republic of Ireland captain and his country's all-time leading goalscorer with 43 will win his 100th cap in a prestigious friendly against the double World Cup winners.

The game also marks the first international in the Republic's new home, the £350million, 50,000-seater Aviva Stadium that has taken three years to construct.

But with Argentina eager to put their World Cup heartache behind them after losing 4-0 to Germany in a quarter-final just 40 days ago, hopes of a celebration may be crushed.

"Whether it's a friendly or competitive game, a match with Ireland is always a tough challenge," said Batista, in temporary charge after the Argentinian Football Association opted not to renew Diego Maradona's contract.

"So we are going into it as if it was a competitive international. I'm sure it is going to be a really serious game.

"We respect the Irish team a lot. Despite that we will try to impose our own style of football on the game.

"I know it means a lot to Ireland, in particular after they missed out on qualification for the World Cup because of those things that can happen sometimes in football (Thierry Henry's handball).

"Also it's obviously a great occasion for Robbie Keane. We know he is a top player and 100 caps for anyone is a big thing in football.

"We just have to make sure that Robbie is not celebrating too much by the end of the game."

Batista will field a near full-strength line-up, with Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero likely to be the only absentees as the Manchester City striker has a sore throat whilst the Atletico Madrid forward is carrying a slight knock.

Lionel Messi is due to play despite not arriving in Dublin until 1.30am yesterday after travelling from Beijing where Barcelona had been involved in a pre-season friendly.

Keane cannot wait to pit his wits against the pocket genius as he said: "He is arguably the best player in the world, no question about that.

"The things he can do with a football are unbelievable. Possibly the closest player to compare him to is Maradona with the way he played.

"But to play against players like him will be good for our lads as we now build towards our qualifying programme for the European Championships."

Enjoying a permanent home game again will further prove a benefit, despite the prestige previously savoured in their temporary venue of Croke Park as they waited for the Aviva Stadium to be built.

"It was great playing at Croke Park," said Tottenham striker Keane.

"But sometimes we lost the atmosphere a little because the crowd were so far away from the pitch. Here they are right on top of you.

"It was always important for us that we returned home as soon as possible, and now everyone is looking forward to a fresh start.

"As a group of players we know we can do well and qualify because with a stadium like this, it will stand us in good stead."

A doubt continues to hang over whether Republic manager Giovanni Trapattoni will attend the game after spending a further night in hospital due to the 71-year-old suffering from food poisoning.