LONDON — This could be the start of an inspiring, or a very dangerous, week in international soccer.

Tuesday is earmarked for another heavy round of matches involving 102 national teams all over the globe. Some are playing for points in World Cup or continental qualification. Others are chasing big bucks — none more so than Argentina.

Its squad slipped across the border from India, where it played an exhibition Friday, to Bangladesh, where in the teeming city of Dhaka the people could hardly wait to see Lionel Messi et al.

Actually, to see Messi, period.

The little man is being feted as a demigod in the subcontinent. Not, perhaps, a Sachin Tendulkar or a Mohammad Ashraful, because sporting heroes in the subcontinent usually have a cricket bat in their hands.