Argentina have no margin for error

Argentina v Ivory Coast: The "pain" of Argentina's first-round elimination four years ago lingers, says the team's coach, Jose Pekerman, but even improving on that performance, he knows, will not be straightforward given the South Americans find themselves in a group at least as tough this time around.

There is, therefore, little margin for error against an Ivory Coast side that is the best equipped of the Africans to gain some measure of success here in Germany.

The West Africans are coached by former France skipper Henri Michel, who, after his playing days, managed both his country (1986) and Cameroon (1994) through World Cup tournaments.

His French side reached the semi-finals in Mexico, and expectations back in the Ivory Coast have gotten sufficiently out of control that there is a danger anything short of that might be regarded as a disappointment.

In truth, his side came close to blowing qualification and would have gone out had Pierre Wome scored a late penalty for group rivals Cameroon. Still, they do have a decent collection of players and nobody will take their challenge lightly.

In much-maligned Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, they have both power and pace up front, while their midfield is constructed around the rather thin frame of Yaya Toure and Didier Zakora. Whether the team's defence can contain strikers of the quality that Argentina, the Netherlands and even Serbia and Montenegro possess will, however, be one of the more interesting aspects of this group.

"Their coach has done a great job in the last two years," observes Pekerman. "They are very organised with top players with experience in Europe. Drogba is a spearhead in the area who is a technically gifted player with good control of the ball as well as being a very good header," he continued. "He will give the central defenders a lot of work and also the central midfielders, who must control those first metres (where he roams)."

Technically, though, the Argentinians appear to possess most of the aces. In the centre of defence they will rely on Roberto Ayala and Gabriel Heinze to counter the threat posed by Drogba, while in almost every department they possess gifted ball-players with a willingness to take the game to opponents.

The quality of Juan Roman Riquelme's performance will be critical, for while the Villarreal playmaker can be quite brilliant he is known to have quiet days too. In attack, Hernan Crespo will finally be the central figure after being somewhat peripheral at his previous World Cups. But there is plenty of quality on the bench, notably Lionel Messi, Pablo Aimar and Carlos Tevez, for Pekerman to call upon if the initial approach fails to pay dividends.

"Argentina look for an equilibrium of possession and ball-winning," says the South American coach, who has promised a return to the style of play that brought huge international success to his country during the 1970s and 1980s.

Michel has a full panel to choose from, but whether they are quite good enough to make a real impact over the next few weeks we will start to find out tonight. If the key Argentinians perform, however, the test should prove that little bit beyond them.