May 6, 2002

Rangers striker Claudio Caniggia has been named in Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa's provisional World Cup squad despite picking up a knee injury in the Scottish Cup final win over Celtic on Saturday.

Bielsa named 13 of the 23 players he will take with him to Japan and Korea at a press conference on Monday, adding that the remaining ten would be revealed when their respective leagues had concluded.

"Players still in action with their teams will be called up later," Bielsa said. "Our deadline is May 21 and we can wait as long as 24 hours before playing our first match in Japan if we need to."

Jose Chamot, Mauricio Pochettino, Sergio Zanetti, Walter Samuel, Claudio Husain, Hernan Crespo, Gabriel Batistuta, Claudio Caniggia, Ariel Ortega, Diego Simeone, Marcelo Gallardo and Claudio Lopez will all make the trip.

But the most stunning inclusion belonged to Caniggia who only returned to international football after a four-year absence for the friendly against Wales in February.

The Rangers star has remained in the Argentina squad since, but his hopes of making a surprise return to the World Cup stage appeared to have gone when he damaged his right knee in a clash with Celtic defender Chris Sutton in the 3-2 win on Saturday.

Caniggia immediately flew to Italy for tests, and the initial prognosis suggests he will recover in time.

Bielsa, meanwhile, reiterated that his future as Argentina coach was not in doubt.

"I never said that I was going to quit," he said. "The only truth is what I am saying now. Nothing that has been reported in the press is true. I haven't spoken to any one.

"I claimed what I was owed, but I never said that if I wasn't paid I was going to quit. That's not my style. I believe that everything gets resolved through discussion and I don't have any problems doing that."

Argentina kick off their World Cup campaign against Nigeria before playing England and Sweden in Group F.

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