Argentina had been due to play England at the end of May before the South Americans flew on to Australia to face the Socceroos.

But England pulled out, so Argentina rescheduled their European itinerary to include a match against Switzerland on June 2.

But that only left four days for the Argentineans to fly Down Under and prepare for the Australia match.

The only way they felt they could do that was to bring in their reserve side - and leave out stars like Lionel Messi.

Instead it was agreed to cancel the clash. Football Federation Australia insist the match will still go ahead...but it's likely to be later in the year and well after the Asian Cup campaign.

“We have been in discussions with the Argentinean Football Association President Julio Grondona and we agreed it would be in the best interests of both teams and Australian football supporters to postpone the match to later this year and we expect to confirm the new match date within the next week or so,” said FFA CEO Mr. Ben Buckley.

“We share our fans disappointment about re-scheduling the match, but we hope that they will accept that a postponement was necessary so that we will see a full strength Argentina.”

“Representatives from the FFA will be meeting with officials from the AFA and their match agents early next week to finalise the revised match date.”

Purchased tickets will be valid for the re-scheduled match, and refunds will also be available for those unable to attend.

“At this stage it appears unlikely that we will have another match in Australia in June which means that the World Cup qualifying re-match against Uruguay at Telstra Stadium on 2 June will be the only chance to farewell the team ahead of the Asian Cup,” added Mr Buckley.

Argentina drew 0-0 with Chile overnight. The match was played at Malvinas Argentinas Stadium in Mendoza; which lies at the foot of the Andes which separates the two countries.