Argentina prepared for tough task against Nigerians: Batistuta

June 1, 2002

NARAHA, Japan, June 1 (AFP) -- Argentina striker Gabriel Batistuta vowed his team will not fall into an African World Cup ambush when they meet Group F opponents Nigeria on Sunday.

Argentina are ranked as favourites for the tournament boasting a powerful-looking squad crammed with Europe-based stars. But with reigning champions France humbled by Senegal in Friday's opening game, Batistuta and Argentina know they can ill afford to take the Nigerians for granted in the game at Ibaraki near Tokyo.

"We are prepared for a very tough encounter as Nigeria are one of the hardest teams around to face and the opening game is always a difficult one, said the 33-year-old 'Batigol', playing in his third - and last - World Cup.

Batistuta knows more than anyone that Nigeria are not a soft touch. At the 1994 World Cup he was a member of the Argentina side which went 1-0 down to the 'Super Eagles' before battling back to win 2-1.

"We will have to get a grip things early on" was how the AS Roma star saw things with equally awkward matches against England and Sweden to follow.

"The expectations on us to win the Cup are always huge - but if we do go a long way it won't be by coincidence," he added after Friday training. He recalled that the team coached by 1978 World Cup-winning skipper Daniel Passarella which fell to Holland in the quarter-finals four years ago was "a good side but one with less experience."

Current coach Marcelo Bielsa's side, according to Argentina's record scorer with 55, is more capable of dictating the pace of a game. "We can hold the ball better and not wait for our opponent to come at us nor waiit and see what transpires.

"With Bielsa we always go out to attack," he insisted. Batistuta said the team were awaiting their opening match calmly and were at ease with their status as co-favourites.

"This is the World Cup and you need all the elements in place: A good coach, luck and a cohesive team unit are fundamental requirements.

"This is a great team which has the good fortune to have a great coach," he went on.

Bielsa will have been flattered no doubt to hear that - but he still has not let slip whether Batistuta will get the nod as main striker against the Nigerians or whether Hernan Crespo of Lazio will slip in at the top of the pecking order.

Batistuta said come what may if he had to take his place on the bench he would with good grace as "Crespo and I both have what it takes" to fire Argentina to victory.

Bielsa is resisting pressure from fans who want to see both men play together and it seems likely Batistuta will play just in front of River Plate's Ariel Ortega - whose job it will be to serve up goalscoring opportunities on a plate from the right flank with Lazio's Claudio Lopez lurking on the left.

Opponents Nigeria meanwhile remain an unknown quantity, on their day capable of beating anyone but at the same time capable of disintegrating. Super Eagles coach Adegboye Onigbinde is sweating on an injury to star forward Julius Aghahowa, who has taken to hospital as a precaution on Friday after taking a heavy knock in training.

Aghahowa is Nigeria's main attacking weapon and his possible absence will seriously diminish chances of an African upset. Onigbinde, a disciplinarian former schoolteacher, insists he is not peturbed by the possibility of facing Argentina's star-studded squad.

"I respect all these stars, but I think more about the team as a whole," Onigbinde said at a press conference.

"If you tell me a player has three or four legs, or maybe two heads, then that's special. But to me, it's just one man."