May 31, 2002

NARAHA, Japan (AP) -- Gabriel Batistuta, Argentina's all-time leading scorer, announced Friday that he will quit international soccer after the World Cup.

"My last game with this team at the World Cup will be my last game for Argentina," he told reporters at the team's training camp.

The 33-year-old has scored a remarkable 55 goals in 75 matches for his country. He has also scored nine World Cup goals -- four in 1994 and five in 1998 -- at an average of a goal a game.

With a modest smile, he said Friday that he has one eye on beating Gerd Mueller's record of 14 World Cup finals goals, scored for Germany in 1970 and 1974.

"I've thought about it and it would be nice, but it's not my main goal," Batistuta said. "My greater desire is to win the World Cup."

First, though, the stylish striker will have to win a place in coach Marcelo Bielsa's team. He's competing with Lazio striker Hernan Crespo for the central striker's position.

Batistutua said both players have been kept in the dark about Sunday's match against Nigeria.

"Bielsa hasn't told me or him who will play," he said. "As far as I know, he hasn't announced the team yet.

"But everybody here wants to get in the team," he added. "We all came here hoping to win the cup, and I've never felt that I was going to be a substitute."

Batistuta scored four goals in Argentina's 5-1 win over Japanese champion Kashima Antlers last week. But he failed to make the stronger of two lineups on Tuesday against two other local clubs.

Crespo -- who scored nine goals in 10 qualifiers -- played in the stronger side on Tuesday, which on paper looked like Bielsa's most likely starting lineup. Neither of the two managed to score.

On Friday, Batistuta was smiling and joking as he led the rest of the squad in a run around a training pitch. Even that was interpreted by some Argentine observers as a sure sign that he would get the nod against Nigeria.

Batistuta was eager to play down the rivalry for the striker's berth, which many claim has caused a rift between him and Crespo.

"We're not fighting with one another," Batistuta said. "We both want to play, and it's the coach who will decide. We think we can both play together, but Bielsa obviously doesn't. So I don't think it's going to happen."

Bielsa prefers a 3-3-1-3 formation, with two wingers -- expected to be Ariel Ortega and Kily Gonzalez -- supplying crosses for a sole striker.

He says that if both play in the same team they tend to cancel each other out with similar runs. However, he has left the door open to bringing one on as a substitute to play with the other if Argentina is losing.

Despite a disappointing season in Italy -- he only managed six goals for AS Roma this season; Crespo scored 13 for Lazio _ Batistuta believes he will be bowing out of international soccer at his peak.

"I'm calmer and mentally stronger than I was four years ago in France," he said. "This is my last World Cup, and I want to win it. Not everyone can say they had the chance to do that."