Buenos Aires, Argentina (My Sportsbook) - New Argentina coach Jose Pekerman named his 23-man squad for World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Chile.
Pekerman, who recently took over for Marco Bielsa, will be on the sidelines leading the Olympic gold medalists in their attempt to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The squad includes talented youngsters Gabriel Heinze and Carlos Tevez, who starred for Bielsa in Athens.
Argentina is currently second in the South American qualifying, one point behind Brazil after eight matches. Argentina will host Uruguay this weekend before heading for a mid-week game in Chile.
The complete roster is:
GOALKEEPERS:
Roberto Abbondanzieri (Boca Juniors)
Leo Franco (Atletico Madrid)
DEFENDERS:
Fabricio Coloccini (Villareal)
Gonzalo Rodriguez (Villarreal)
Walter Samuel (Real Madrid)
Diego Placente (Bayer Leverkusen)
Gabriel Heinze (Manchester United)
Facundo Quiroga (Wolfsburg)
Gabriel Milito (Real Zaragoza)
MIDFIELDERS:
Javier Mascherano (River Plate)
Luis Gonzalez (River Plate)
Juan Sorin (Cruzeiro)
Esteban Cambiasso (Inter Milan)
Juan Riquelme (Villarreal)
Andres D'Alessandro (Wolfsburg)
Maxi Rodriguez (Espanyol)
Javier Zanetti (Inter)
Lionel Scaloni (Deportivo La Coruna)
STRIKERS:
Carlos Tevez (Boca Juniors)
Javier Saviola (Monaco)
Hernan Crespo (AC Milan)
Mauro Rosales (Ajax)
Luciano Figueroa (Cruz Azul)