Time running out for Bielsa to solve selection quandaries
May 27, 2002
NARAHA, Japan -- Argentina tests itself against Japanese opposition Tuesday, and coach Marcelo Bielsa will be looking for further clues to help solve three quandaries over his starting lineup.
Sportingnews
He must decide who plays in goal, on the right wing and crucially whether Gabriel Batistuta or Hernan Crespo will play up front.
Bielsa will field two different sides at Argentina's J-Village training camp, one against Vegalta Sendai, the other against FC Tokyo. To avoid overexertion or the risk of injury, he has arranged for both matches to be just 60 minutes long.
Argentina kicks off its World Cup campaign on Sunday against Nigeria and the players say they are thinking of nothing else.
"It won't do us any good to think any further than Nigeria," said midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron. "Our heads are completely focused on that game, nothing else."
After Tunisia pulled out of a friendly last week, Argentina had to settle for matches against Japanese club sides. But while some of its rivals for the World Cup have suffered injuries, Argentina's camp except for forward Claudio Caniggia has come through unscathed.
All eyes will be on how Batistuta and Crespo perform on Tuesday. In a 5-1 demolition of Japanese champion Kashima Antlers last week, Batistuta came on as a substitute for Crespo, his archrival, and scored four goals. But in a training session Sunday with a group of Argentine Under-20 players, Crespo got the nod.
Bielsa, who is reluctant to play both strikers together, has acknowledged that he is struggling to choose between the two. Batistuta is Argentina's all-time leading goalscorer with 55 goals in 75 games, while Crespo led the line in Argentina's breeze through the qualifying stages and has scored 17 in 33.
"I don't think you'd know either," was Bielsa's terse response to a reporter last week when repeatedly asked why he was unable to make a decision on the sole striker's berth. He plays a 3-3-1-3 formation, with two wide wingers.
Veron refused to be drawn Monday on who he would rather play with.
"Both are great strikers," he said. "All you have to do is put the ball up there for them, and you know they'll score."
Elsewhere, the goalkeeper spot is expected to be a straight duel between German Burgos of Atletico Madrid and Pablo Cavallero of Celta Vigo. Barcelona's Roberto Bonano is almost certain to be third choice.
The third question mark is the right-wing slot, with Ariel Ortega, soon to join Turkish side Fenerbahce, fighting it out with Celta Vigo's Gustavo Lopez and Glasgow Rangers' Caniggia. However, Caniggia is unlikely to be available for immediate selection after suffering a reaction Saturday to a recent knee injury which has kept him out of training. Team officials said they don't know when he will fully resume.
Argentina officials said Monday that Ortega will wear the No. 10 shirt that the team unsuccessfully tried to have withdrawn in honor of Diego Maradona. Earlier they had said reserve goalkeeper Roberto Bonano would wear the shirt.