"It's nice to have the pressure of having to go out and win," Aimar told reporters at Argentina's training camp. "We hope that this team has the ability to recover."

Aimar came on for the disappointing Juan Sebastian Veron in the 1-0 loss to England on Friday, and his creativity and drive behind Argentina's front three at times looked like unlocking the English defense.

Veron was tried out in a reserve side on Sunday in a more central position, and team officials said coach Marcelo Bielsa was toying with the idea of having him play a deeper role against Sweden on Wednesday.

That could be a positive sign for the 21-year-old Aimar, who has played 20 times for his country and scored two goals.

But he's taking nothing for granted.

"Of course we all want to play, that's why we train every day," he said. "But we'll see. Four or five months ago, many people had doubts over whether I should even be among 40 or 50 candidates to play for the national team.

"All I will say is that I am ready to play if called upon. I have got a lot of desire."

To avoid an embarrassing first-round elimination, Argentina must beat Sweden. It started the World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Nigeria but the defeat against England has left the South Americans in third place in Group F. Sweden is top of the group and -- like England -- needs only one point to qualify.

The last time Argentina failed to make the second stage of the World Cup was back in 1962.

Argentina could be boosted by the return of forward Claudio Caniggia, who has been sidelined for more than a month due to a knee injury.

Caniggia is back in full training and played in the same team as Veron on Sunday. If he suffers no reaction, he should at least make the substitutes' bench against Sweden.

Caniggia, 35, was injured for Glasgow Rangers in May's Scottish Cup final.

Defender Roberto Ayala, however, seems unlikely to make the match. The team captain suffered a thigh injury minutes before Argentina's opening 1-0 victory against Nigeria and has yet to make an appearance at the World Cup. He is still only able to take part in light training routines.