BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Sportserver.com) - Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa on Friday called up Boca Juniors defender Rodolfo Martin Arruabarrena to his squad to face England on Wednesday at Wembley.
Arruabarrena, 24, appeared intermittently for the national side under former coach Daniel Passarella, who quit after France 98 when his side lost to Holland in the quarterfinals. Arruabarrena, a member of the side which won the gold medal at the 1995 Panamerican Games, will play Sunday for Boca against Racing Club in the Argentine league and then join up with midfielder Claudio Husain of Velez Sarsfield before catching a flight to London. He was called into the squad following the withdrawal through injury of Juan Pablo Sorin, who plays for Brazil's Cruzeiro.
Bielsa, meanwhile, having already lost Lazio's Matias Almeyda, was hit by news Friday of an injury to Valencia forward Claudio Lopez, who remains on the 18-man squad list.
The only other strikers are Gabriel Batistuta of Fiorentina and Hernan Crespo of Parma.
The Argentines are set to field ten of the eleven who faced England at Saint Etienne in France 98 but with the Copa Libertadores currently under way in South America, Bielsa will have to do without talents such as River Plate's teenage marksman Javier Solari, top scorer in the Argentine league.
Playmaker Marcelo Gallardo of Monaco is also unavailable through injury. Argentina will use the friendly against Kevin Keegan's men to assess their form ahead of a South American World Cup qualifying campaign which starts with a match against Chile on March 29.
