The face that adorns a thousand billboards in Kerala could finally make a real appearance next year in the State. Argentina’s football team, and potentially their talisman Lionel Messi, could feature in two exhibition games against an Asian opponent. Kerala Sports Minister V Abdurahiman confirmed the news Wednesday after he, his delegation and members of the All Kerala Gold and Silver Merchants Association, held talks with the delegates of the Argentina Football Association in Madrid last week.

Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, the minister said: “We had excellent discussions on hosting an exhibition match in the state. As a follow-up, an AFA delegation will visit the state within two months. All the financial assistance for organising this high-profile football event will be provided by the merchants of the state.” It’s estimated that the event would cost around `35 crore.

The venue—most likely Kochi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium—and dates, would be formalised only after the visit of AFA delegates. Boby Chemmanur, a member of the association who also collaborated with the late Diego Maradona, said Messi’s arrival could be a dream-come-true moment for the hysteric fans. “There were nearly a lakh when Maradona visited the State here. If Messi turns up it could be more. I can’t imagine the chaos. As you would know, he is the most popular sportsman in the State. He is everywhere,” he says. “Definitely, it would lift the state’s profile in the sporting world,” he says.

Some 15,000 kilometres from his hometown Rosario, Messi enjoys riveting fanfare in Kerala. Before the last World Cup, a 30-feet cutout was raised over a river in Kozhikode. Thousands flew to Qatar to watch him hoist the World Cup, twice as many enrolled as volunteers at the event in the hope to see in him flesh. During the World Cup or COPA America tournament time, the flags of Argentina flutter from the terraces of houses and the smiling face of Messi gleams from flexes at nearly every bend of the road. Ten thousands of jerseys, from the original to fake, are sold and worn with love and pride; the debates of who is the greatest—whether it’s Messi or his Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo swirl deep into any football night. Some of them have escalated into violence too.

Aware of the fan following, La Liga and AFA X handles used to photo-shop Messi in Kerala’s traditional attire of kasavu mundu. Last year, the Ambassador of Argentina gifted CM Pinarayi Vijayan a national team jersey for the state’s support of Messi and Argentina in the World Cup.