Veron practises with Argentine reserves

June 9, 2002

NARAHA, Japan (Reuters) - Midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron practised with Argentina's World Cup reserves, fuelling speculation he would be dropped for their decisive group F match against Sweden.

Veron, who has captained the Argentine team in their opening two matches, had a poor first half against England in the 1-0 defeat in Sapporo on Friday and was substituted at halftime.

Pablo Aimar, his second half replacement, was among a group of 12 first choice players who did hard physical training at Argentina's World Cup retreat, the team's press officer Coco Ventura said.

Veron played a 40-minute practice game with other members of the squad against the Argentine under-20 team who are acting as sparring partners at their J-Village camp.

An alternative reading of the closed practice could be that coach Marcelo Bielsa wanted to drill Veron for Wednesday's match in Miyagi with a view to having him play deeper behind Aimar.

The pair linked well together during Argentina's warm-up friendly against Cameroon in Geneva in March, a 2-2 draw in which they both had a hand in the team's two goals.

The Veron practice also included defensive midfielders Matias Almeyda and Claudio Husain, both stand-ins for Diego Simeone, and Marcelo Gallardo, a playmaker in the Aimar mould.

Team captain Roberto Ayala, who has so far been unable to take part in the tournament because of a pulled muscle, is still doing separate rehabilitation work.

But he has run with the squad and could be recalled for the do-or-die clash with Sweden.

Victory would guarantee Argentina's place in the second round and Aimar would increase the ball-playing skills in the team.

ARGENTINE INVENTION

"If it's going to be so hard to get inside (the Swedish defence) we're going to have to invent ways," Aimar told reporters after the practice.

"We must have the ball more than them and move it in the right way," he added after it was pointed out to him Argentina had 65 percent possession against England and still lost.

"It could be that we didn't have enough change of rhythm. Defeats hurt and more against certain teams," he added.

Veron laid on Argentina's winner in their 1-0 victory over Nigeria in the opening match in Ibaraki with an inswinging corner to the far post that Gabriel Batistuta headed in.

But his passing was wayward and decision-making poor against England, although he said he had felt a recurrence of a nagging Achilles tendon problem that hampered his movements.