Argentina head coach Jose Pekerman has led the Albiceleste to their fourteenth World Cup Finals appearance.

They were the first South American side to book their place, making sure with three rounds to spare, finishing second to current World champions Brazil on goal difference in the South American (CONMEBOL) Zone of qualifying.

With a little more experience now under their belt, the two-time world champions are back for another tilt at the title.

Pekerman has said that he has already chosen 95% of the Argentina World Cup squad for the finals in Germany, where they have been drawn in possibly the toughest group of all, Group C, alongside the Netherlands, Ivory Coast and Serbia and Montenegro, and any of the teams could progress.

But, with an abundance of talent throughout the squad, the Albiceleste will prove to be a match for any team in the group, let alone any team in the Finals.

Pekerman’s striking possibilities range from from Barcelona wonder-kid Lionel Messi, to Chelsea’s Hernán Crespo, Carlos Tevez from Corinthians, Real Zaragoza’s Diego Milito and Javier Saviola.

Jose Pekerman also left a small window of opportunity for Independiente striker, Sergio Agüero to join the squad in Germany.

"The case for Agüero is similar to Messi," said Pekerman, referring to the 17-year-old who is turning heads in the Argentine league.

"But the difference is that Messi has proven himself against teams like Chelsea, and faced million-dollar players."

All in all, in attack, there is plenty of fire-power.

The midfield looks complete, with Maxi Rodriguez from Atlético Madrid, Luis González, Javier Mascherano, Inter’s Esteban Cambiasso, Bayern’s Martín Demichelis, Valencia’s Pablo Aimar, with Juan Román Riquelme and team captain Juan Pablo Sorín both from Villareal.

Juan Pablo Sorin was Pekerman's skipper 10 years ago in the World Youth Cup. Some believe, though, that the armband should go back to Roberto Ayala.

Shoring up the defence, Pekerman can choose from Fabricio Coloccini, Nicolás Burdisso, Roberto Ayala, Walter Samuel, Gabriel Heinze, and West Ham’s Lionel Scaloni, with Leonardo Ponzio and Javier Zanetti likely to be battling for the last defensive squad place.

The goalkeeper spot is still unsure following Roberto Abbondanzieri’s dismal recent showing in Argentina’s 3-2 defeat against Croatia, Pekerman said: "We never spoke of a definite number one, trying to give all a shot.

"El Pato (Abbondanzieri) has had ups and downs from the outset; German Lux played the entire Confederations Cup. We also count on Leo Franco, though he’s played sparingly, he’s tops in the Spanish league. And the great hope is Oscar Ustari, who’s doing great in the local tournament," said the Argentina boss of his goalkeeping choices.

Argentina have been drawn in Group C – the "Group of Death" -alongside Cote d’Ivoire, Serbia and Montenegro and the Netherlands.

When at their best, Argentina play as entertaining a game of football as anyone in the world.

If the likes of Juan Riquelme, Juan Pablo Sorín, Lucho González, Hernán Crespo and Roberto Ayala are all playing as one, Argentina will be extremely hard to beat.

Plus, with the new talent of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi for teams to contend with, the Albiceleste could go all the way in Germany.

Messi helped his country win the FIFA World Youth Championship in June 2005, becoming the tournament’s top scorer and star player in the process.

The young Barcelona star didn’t feature in the side that finished runners-up in the FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany last year, or in the November friendly against England, but Pekerman will surely be looking to the gifted striker to help avenge that painful World Cup exit of four years ago.

The Albiceleste will debut against Cote d’ivoire June 10th in Hamburg, take on Serbia and Montenegro June 16th in Gelsenkirchen and finish the first round of matches against Holland June 21st in Frankfurt.

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Argentina Match Fixtures in the World Cup 2006 Finals

10-Jun-06	Argentina v Ivory Coast	21:00 BST
16-Jun-06	Argentina v Serbia & Montenegro	15:00 BST
21-Jun-06	Holland v Argentina	21:00

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Historic Facts

First International appearance: Uruguay 2 - 3 Argentina (Montevideo, Uruguay; 16 May 1901)

Largest win: Argentina 12 - 0 Ecuador (Montevideo, Uruguay; 22 January 1942)

Worst defeat: Czechoslovakia 6 - 1 Argentina (Helsingborg, Sweden; 15 June 1958)

World Cup Finals Appearances: 1930, 1934, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002

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Argentina Match Results - South America World Cup Qualifiers

Date	Match	Result
12-Oct-2005	Uruguay - Argentina	1:0 (0:0)
09-Oct-2005	Argentina - Peru	2:0 (0:0)
03-Sep-2005	Paraguay - Argentina	1:0 (1:0)
08-Jun-2005	Argentina - Brazil	3:1 (3:0)
04-Jun-2005	Ecuador - Argentina	2:0 (0:0)
30-Mar-2005	Argentina - Colombia	1:0 (0:0)
26-Mar-2005	Bolivia - Argentina	1:2 (0:0)
17-Nov-2004	Argentina - Venezuela	3:2 (2:1)
13-Oct-2004	Chile - Argentina	0:0
09-Oct-2004	Argentina - Uruguay	4:2 (3:0)
04-Sep-2004	Peru - Argentina	1:3 (0:1)
06-Jun-2004	Argentina - Paraguay	0:0
02-Jun-2004	Brazil - Argentina	3:1 (1:0)
30-Mar-2004	Argentina - Ecuador	1:0 (0:0)
19-Nov-2003	Colombia - Argentina	1:1 (0:1)
15-Nov-2003	Argentina - Bolivia	3:0 (0:0)
09-Sep-2003	Venezuela - Argentina	0:3 (0:3)
06-Sep-2003	Argentina - Chile	2:2 (2:0)

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