Messi fit, but no place in eleven

“He will be with us tomorrow,” Pekerman said, without revealing what his plans were for the 18-year-old FC Barcelona striker.

Savo Milosevic, meanwhile, may have to wait longer for his hundredth cap if Serbia & Montenegro opt for a taller striker in their must-win World Cup match against Argentina in Gelsenkirchen on Friday.

The Serbs lost their opener 1-0 to the Netherlands and anything less than three points against the South Americans will probably spell the end of their campaign. The Serb midfield should remain unchanged with Dejan Stankovic and Predrag Djordjevic operating in the centre. But 2.02-metre striker Nikola Zigic may be preferred up front to 32-year-old captain Milosevic.

Argentina could be vulnerable in the air with their relatively small centre backs Roberto Ayala and Gabriel Heinze. “We can’t speculate…we must take the game to them all the time and get the result that will qualify us,” Ayala said. Jose Pekerman’s team have practised this week with a change in midfield designed to give them more speed up front.

Argentina sat back after going 2-0 up against Ivory Coast in Hamburg on Saturday and relinquished the initiative for long periods of the second half. Pekerman will almost certainly keep faith with his twin strike force of Hernan Crespo and Javier Saviola, who scored the goals that sank the Ivorians. Serbia are handicapped by the loss of central defender Nemanja Vidic, who has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament with damaged knee ligaments.

Goran Gavrancic will move into the centre of defence to fill in, with Igor Duljaj likely to start at right back and Ognjen Koroman on the right wing. Serbia’s defensive midfielder Albert Nadj said the team must not let themselves down after a disappointing game against the Dutch.

Match officials:

Referee: Roberto Rosetti (ITA), Assistant Referees: Cristiano Copelli (ITA), Alessandro Stagnoli (ITA), Fourth Official: Essam Abd el Fatah (EGY), Fifth Official: Dramane Dante (MLI)

Rex Gowar