May 23, 2002

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) -- Gabriel Batistuta's four second-half goals in a warmup game showed why Argentina is one of the most feared teams in the World Cup.

And ``Batigol's'' offensive show was part of an effort to win a starting position on the team.

Defending champion France, meanwhile, gained the services of Zinedine Zidane, a hero of its 1998 World Cup triumph.

On his first full day of practice with the team Thursday, Zidane referred to his spectacular goal in Real Madrid's victory in the European Champions Cup on May 15, and the birth of his third son.

``I'm really fired up after a week like I've had,'' he said.

``A second World Cup title isn't out of the question,'' Zidane said. ``But the competition will be tough.''

French coach Roger Lemerre said Thursday he may have to call up Nicolas Anelka if top striker Thierry Henry continues to have knee problems.

France plays the very first match of the World Cup, against Senegal on May 31 in Seoul, South Korea.

In Argentina's 3-3-1-3 formation, Batistuta is vying with Hernan Crespo for the starting central striker position, with coach Marcelo Bielsa resisting pressure to use the two stars side-by-side.

Batistuta came on as a substitute for Crespo in Thursday's 5-1 training camp victory over Japanese champions Kashima Antlers, and scored four goals in 35 minutes.

Crespo started the game despite Bielsa saying Wednesday that Batistuta would wear the No. 9 shirt, which fueled speculation that ``Batigol'' had the edge.

Meanwhile, England was hoping time would be on its side as yet another injury struck the squad 11 days before its World Cup opener against Sweden.

Midfielder Danny Murphy landed awkwardly on his left foot in a training session in South Korea, and coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said Thursday he would assess the seriousness of his injury before deciding whether to send out for a replacement.

A bone scan was planned Friday.

Italy, on the other hand, seemed to be at full strength as it started serious World Cup training in fresh mountain air at their camp in northeastern Japan.

Attention focused on Francesco Totti of AS Roma, the axis of the Italian attack. He has endured a minor strain for the past month and, without him, Italy lost 1-0 in a friendly against the Czech Republic on Saturday.

``I'm not worried about Totti's condition. But he's at a point where he needs attention,'' coach Giovanni Trapattoni said. ``He's very, very important.''

In Sweden's training camp, Fredrik Ljungberg and defender Olof Mellberg engaged in an unfriendly wrestling match after Mellberg tackled the midfield star hard during a scrimmage. Fellow players separated the two.

``Such things happen when you play,'' Ljungberg said. ``If one (player) has been making tackles like that you have to respond. It happened a few times that he was a bit late tackling me. You can't tolerate that. But it's forgotten now.''