A confident but unfamiliar Argentina will look to sweep aside Tunisia in the opening match of the Confederations Cup in Cologne on Wednesday as fringe players seek to impress ahead of next year's World Cup.
Argentina are already qualified for the 2006 finals in Germany and coach Jose Pekerman is resting more experienced players such as Hernan Crespo, who scored twice in the 3-1 victory over Brazil last week that secured their place.
Defender Roberto Ayala and midfielder Cristian "Kily" Gonzalez are also rested while Boca Juniors goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri and River Plate midfield duo Luis Gonzalez and Javier Mascherano are not included because their teams are involved in the Libertadores Cup.
Their absence gives fringe players such as defenders Gonzalo Rodriguez, Gabriel Milito and Martin Demichelis, midfielder Lucas Bernardi and forwards Cesar Delgado, Mario Santana and Luciano Galletti a chance to stake a place in the squad.
Others, such as Real Madrid defender Walter Samuel and Valencia midfielder Pablo Aimar, will hope to relaunch their international careers after absences during the last year. Tunisia arrive in Germany fresh from a 2-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Guinea on Saturday and determined to create an upset.
"We are not here to make up the numbers," Tunisia's French coach Roger Lemerre has said of his team's Confederations Cup debut. "We aim to trouble the big teams."
However Lemerre will also have Tunisia's bid to reach the World Cup finals for a third successive time on his mind.
Hampered by a strong run in their group by north African rivals Morocco, whom they trail by a point with three games to play, Tunisia play their next qualifier against Kenya in August.
French-born Rangers striker Hamed Namouchi has joined the squad and is one of several late additions in recent months to a Tunisian side who have benefited greatly from the inclusion of foreign-born players in their team.
Argentina and Tunisia also face Australia and Germany in group A. The tournament runs until June 29.
Teams:
Argentina: 1-Leonardo Franco; 2-Walter Samuel, 6-Gabriel Heinze, 13-Gonzalo Rodriguez, 14-Gabriel Milito; 3-Juan Pablo Sorin, 8-Juan Roman Riquelme, 10-Pablo Aimar, 17-Lucas Bernardi; 9-Javier Saviola, 11-Cesar Delgado.
Tunisia: 1-Ali Boumnijel; 4-Wissem Abdi, 6-Hatem Trabelsi, 19-Anis Ayari, 20-Clayton; 8-Mehdi Nafti, 10-Kaies Ghodhbane, 12-Jaohar Mnari, 21-Issam Jomaa, 3-Karim Essediri, 13-Hamed Namouchi.
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