From the late 1970s onwards, the League of Ireland XI also began to play friendlies against national teams. These included two prestige games against the full Argentina national team. On 19 April 1978, at the Estadio Alberto J. Armando, Argentina played the League of Ireland XI in a warm up game as part of their preparations for hosting the 1978 FIFA World Cup. A team that included the former England international Bobby Tambling and several Republic of Ireland internationals such as Johnny Giles, Ray Treacy, Eamonn Gregg, Noel Synnott, Cathal Muckian, Jerome Clark and Synan Braddish lost 3–1 to a very strong Argentina. The starting eleven for Argentina included ten players who later played in the 1978 FIFA World Cup Final. In addition a young Diego Maradona also came on as a substitute. Leopoldo Luque, Oscar Ortiz and Ricardo Villa scored for Argentina before Synan Braddish grabbed a consolation goal for the league select. On 29 May 1979, Argentina, then the reigning World Cup holders, visited Lansdowne Road and were held to a 0–0 draw by a Republic of Ireland XI in a UNICEF fundraiser; this team is sometimes incorrectly listed as a League of Ireland XI.