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No sandbagging
Argentina, Croatia to battle for top spot
Posted: Thursday June 25, 1998 05:30 PM
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On the mark: Argentina's Gabriel Batistuta has tallied four goals in this year's World Cup (Mark Thompson/AP) |
VITTEL, France (AP) --
Argentina
and newcomer Croatia, both
already assured of a place in the second round, battle each other in
Bordeaux on Friday for the top qualifying spot in their World Cup group.
Croatia's aging defense is forewarned after Argentine star
striker Gabriel Batistuta tallied three times in a 5-0 rout of Jamaica last
weekend and vaulted to the top of the scorers' list with four goals.
On the other end, Croatian top scorer Davor Suker will need to
improve his marksmanship after wasting several chances against Japan before
knocking in the late 1-0 that lifted Croatia into the next round.
Batistuta, the tournament's scoring co-leader with four goals, could see
his old friend Abel Balbo in Argentina's front line. Balbo, in
his third straight World Cup, could replace Claudio Lopez, who's had two
lackluster performances against Japan and Jamaica. This would
be the first time that Balbo and Batistuta would be paired in Argentina's
front line for a World Cup match. Batistuta has eight goals in
two World Cups, Balbo has none in three world championships. Ariel Ortega
is expected to make another start as playmaker. Croatia will
be heartened by the return of team captain and playmaker Zvonimir Boban,
who sat out the Japan game with a pulled leg muscle. Croatian
coach Miroslav Blazevic has promised to field his strongest team. He is
intent on upsetting Argentina, a two-time world champion, to wipe out bad
memories from a similar situation in the 1996 European Championship in England.
There, Blazevic deliberately sent on a weak team that lost the last
group game against Portugal, pitting Croatia against Germany, his
preferred opponent, in the quarterfinals. Portugal won the
group and faced the Czech Republic. The Croatians then lost
2-1 to Germany, the eventual champion, and Blazevic nearly lost his job.
Blazevic pumped himself up on the eve of Friday's game.
"I won't pull any such trick this time. We don't have any false
respect for Argentina," he said. "My team is the best."
Argentina last won the World Cup in 1986 with Diego Maradona and are
considered contenders this year. After routing Jamaica and
defeating Japan 1-0, the South Americans need only a draw to finish atop
the group and set up a second-round game with the Group G runner-up -- most
likely England or Colombia.
Croatia, which beat Jamaica only 3-1, can expect to face Romania unless
it wins on Friday. Passarella is expected to replace AC
Parma's Roberto Sensini, who has a pulled leg muscle, with Nelson Vivas.
Word from the Argentinian camp is that the coach also may rest left back
Jose Chamot because he already has been cautioned once.
Croatia's only absentee is veteran defender Igor Stimac, suffering from
blistered feet. Silvio Maric will take his spot. Croatia and
Argentina are meeting for the first time, but one Croatian player already
has faced the South Americans in the World Cup: midfielder Robert
Prosinecki played in the 1990 Yugoslav squad that was eliminated by
Argentina in the quarterfinals after a penalty shootout.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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