Argentina World Cup preparations started (24 May 2006 15:54 GMT)
Calling his lineup "fantastic", Argentine manager Jose Pekerman sounded a confident tone Tuesday as his squad began its final stage of preparations for the World Cup.
"I believe we are going to do very well in the World Cup," Pekerman said a day after his squad gathered for the start of training at Ezeiza some 32 kilometres outside Buenos Aires.
The coach said after Michael Owen struck twice in the final four minutes in Geneva in November that such a performance by Argentina would not do in a World Cup.
"We learnt a lesson: we mustn't get disorganised at the end of a match," said Pekerman after three late substitutions affected the team's backbone of Roberto Ayala, Juan Roman Riquelme and Hernan Crespo. "This is useful, since we cannot make this mistake, for example, at a World Cup."
"We are going to go into this together, united, as an important group. We are very much focused on that," Pekerman added.
Argentina had a second day of training Tuesday with a 50-minute exhibition match scheduled for Wednesday against a youth side comprised mainly of Argentina's under-20 national team at River Plate's Monumental Stadium.
Tickets sold out quickly for the match, to be played before a capacity crowd of 50,000 - an example of what Pekerman called "the great enthusiasm both in the streets and among the players."
Hours after the game, Argentina team will depart for Europe and a couple of friendlies prior to the start of the World Cup in Germany.
source : AP, Rueters