A team source on Sunday said coach Jose Pekerman was set to leave on the bench players on a booking to avoid the risk of suspension in the round of last 16.

That would mean striker Javier Saviola, midfielder Luis Gonzalez and defender Gabriel Heinze, booked against Ivory Coast, sitting out the match against rivals who Argentina beat in the 1978 final and who turned the tables in the 1998 quarters in Marseille.

Gonzalez, nicknamed "Lucho," will in any case be out as he picked up a leg strain in the thrashing of the Serbs and Montenegrins and will not be ready to return before the quarter-finals.

With Hernan Crespo booked in that game Pekerman may opt to send out a new forward line with Carlos Tevez of Corinthians having scored against the Serbs and Rodrigo Palacio of Boca Juniors also to call on.

In addition, teenager Lionel Messi, brought on from the bench for a goalscoring entrance, is another offensive option for a side which can rely on goals from all quarters.