Lionel Messi will not be there, but the stars will still rain down at the National Stadium on Tuesday, when Singapore host Argentina in a glamour friendly.
The fans will be disappointed at not being able to watch Messi in the flesh, with the Barcelona superstar flying back along with Gonzalo Higuain, who is another popular name missing from the Argentina squad.
"Basically, they were carrying over a lot of games, so I think it's a wise decision to let them go, for this game," Sampaoli said when asked about the absences of the key players. "It would have been too risky to let them play now."
However, there are still plenty of big names in this Argentina side, including Paulo Dybala and Angel Di Maria.
Dybala and Di Maria are slated to start the match as well, with the new Argentina manager Jorge Sampaoli set to go in with a radical formation.
Sampaoli has named just two defenders in his lineup against Singapore, and it will be interesting to see what formation he deploys, with some reports suggesting it could be a 2-3-4-1.
Argentina manager Jorge Sampaoli will play a 2-3-4-1 formation against Singapore tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/YTHeLCpeIb
— Arsène's Son (@hughwizzy) June 12, 2017
"The defence of the team comes from all 10 outfield players," Sampaoli said. "We are looking for the development of a defensive tactic based on immediate recovery of the ball.
"In this context, we can be very aggressive offensively. I think attacking variations give us the possibility to try many players with offensive characteristics."
While attack is going to be the best form of defence, Sampaoli, who began his Argentina career with a 1-0 win over Brazil in Melbourne, isn't taking a win over Singapore, ranked 157 in the world to Argentina's 2, for granted.
"I disagree with the statement that we will win for sure," Sampaoli added. "After our preparation game against Brazil, we are playing a difficult game against Singapore.
"I'm expecting to have a team in front that are taking advantage of the opportunity to really play against Argentina."
When and where to watch live
Singapore vs Argentina is scheduled for an 8pm local time, 5.30pm IST, 2pm CET, 1pm BST start. TV and live streaming information for the friendly is below.
India: TV: No coverage.
Singapore: TV: EuroSport Asia. Live Streaming: EuroSport Player.
Argentina: TV: TYC Sports. Live Streaming: TYC Sports Play.
China and Hong Kong: TV: LeTV.
Thailand: TV: True Sport.
