Tim Vickery column

There is a dilemma that national team coaches often have to wrestle with; stick with the tried and tested player or go with the man in form.

Argentina's Alfio Basile found himself facing this very question when choosing his squad for the first round of South America's 2010 World Cup qualification campaign, which gets under way this weekend.

He has lots of superb little strikers at his disposal - Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Javier Saviola.

There are others who cannot even find a place in the squad, such as Lisandro Lopez and Ezequiel Lavezzi.

But when it comes to big centre-forwards there is nothing like the same embarrassment of riches - and the problem is that when Basile has selected an attack lacking height then the team has often been short of the options that a penalty-area target-man could provide.

Ever since the retirement of Gabriel Batistuta, Hernan Crespo has been Argentina's unchallenged number nine.

He looked in good form in the Copa America over the summer - until he ripped a muscle in the act of scoring a penalty against Colombia and took no further part in the tournament.

Shaking off the injury proved more difficult than expected. He missed Argentina's trip to Australia in September and, presumably on the grounds of inactivity, has been left out of the squad to face Chile on Saturday and Venezuela the following Tuesday.

The criteria for his exclusion seems somewhat strange. Crespo does have some football, and a couple of goals, under his belt this season.

Playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme is included, despite being in football limbo at Villarreal.

His last match was the Copa America final in July.

But the decision has been taken. Crespo is out and the only target-man centre-forward named in the squad is German Denis of Argentine league leaders Independiente.

The burly Denis has 15 goals in the 13 rounds of the championship, five ahead of his nearest rival. There is no doubt that he is the man in form.

But will he be able to carry his run of success from domestic Argentine football to perhaps the most competitive World Cup campaign on the planet?

It's a big step up. The career record of Denis, now 26, is certainly not outstanding and sporting history is full of cases of players whose good performances come to an abrupt end as soon as they are asked to climb up a level.

Form is temporary, class is permanent is only a clich� because it so often turns out to be right - though we have to accept that in football the reference to permanence is relative. No-one stays at the top forever.

Basile's adversary this Saturday is Marcelo Bielsa, the former Argentina coach who now brings his Chile side to Buenos Aires.

Bielsa has found a place in his squad for Marcelo Salas. No-one who saw his display at Wembley almost 10 years ago - when he scored both goals as Chile beat England 2-0 - could doubt the class of the stocky striker.

For a while Salas looked like an Andean version of Gerd Muller and was one of the most feared marksmen in the world game.

That was some time ago. Crowded out by the immense size of boom-time European club squads, beset by injuries and perhaps derailed by off-the-field problems, Salas' fire seemed to fizzle out.

He is now 32 but Bielsa appears to believe that the flame is still burning.

And so on Saturday Salas will be on call, most likely from the substitutes' bench, at the Monumental stadium.

The ground in Buenos Aires, home to River Plate, is the scene of some of his greatest triumphs a decade ago.

While Salas will hope to prove that he still has some of the old class, German Denis will be bursting for a chance to show that there are no limits to his form.

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Got a question about South American football for Tim Vickery? Email him at vickerycolumn@hotmail.com

Whenever I go back home to Brazil people think that a team from the Brazilian Championship could take on most of the Premier League clubs and back up their argument saying a South American team has won in Tokyo in the last two years. Do you think an average Brazilian side would survive in the Premier League?
Victor Romero Cardozo, England

Obviously, there's no definitive answer. For what it's worth, my opinion - taking the scenic route - is as follows;

As you've clearly felt, this subject runs straight into Brazilian nationalist feelings and logical debate can sometimes fly out of the window.

There is a Brazilian bar-room bore's version of football which argues that the European-based stars are a bunch of mercenaries and that the national team would be better off with players from the domestic game.

It's nonsense but it's amazing how many otherwise intelligent people can fall for it when the nationalist mood strikes.

The two World Club wins in Japan are very interesting. They are magnificent achievements (Sao Paulo beating Liverpool and Internacional beating Barcelona).

But the manner of the triumph speaks volumes.

Brazilian teams used to look forward to these occasions to show off their extra skill.

Now they are taking the field with an approach that admits, in technical terms, they are massively outgunned.

They are tactical triumphs - sneak a goal on the counter, blanket defence, interrupt the rhythm, deny the space.

Both Liverpool and Barcelona wanted to win but there is no doubt that the occasion means more to the South American sides, who strain every sinew in search of a result.

Over a season-long basis I am far from convinced that they would be able to sustain their one-off success - so, as it stands, I think even the best Brazilian clubs would find it hard going in a major European league.

The point, though, is really null and void. If the Brazilian clubs were in, say, the Premier League, then they would be receiving the rivers of television, sponsorship and ticket money the English clubs get.

In that situation they wouldn't have to sell their best players - and with these on the field they would be able to compete with anyone.

Source: BBC Sport