HERZOGENAURACH, Germany, June 8 - Argentina can expect a game of cat and mouse against Ivory Coast in Hamburg on Saturday, says birthday boy Javier Mascherano.

"It is not going to be an open game. They're going to sit back and wait for Argentina," the midfielder told reporters on Thursday.

"Ivory Coast are not just physical opponents, they also have footballers who know how to play. They know their game."

Mascherano, who turned 22 on Thursday, is set for a ball-winning role for the twice former champions in the Group C match at the AOL Arena.

Argentina also face Serbia & Montenegro and Netherlands in the section.

Defender Nicolas Burdisso, who like Mascherano was in the under-20 side which won the World Youth Cup on home soil in 2001, said coach Jose Pekerman's team must learn from previous errors. "We have to know how to take advantage of our failings in past matches," he said referring to two defeats in friendlies since last November which were down to late defensive mistakes.

Argentina lost 3-2 to England in Geneva and by the same score to Croatia in Basel in March when they gave away winners in the dying seconds.

Most of the Argentine players have yet to play a World Cup game.

Burdisso said: "This is a match we've been waiting for all our lives."