Squad details correct up to and including Argentina's match against Spain on 17 November 1999.

Diary

Tuesday, 9 February 2000 - Coach Marcelo Bielsa announces a full-strength nineteen-man Argentina squad that will face England later this month at Wembley Stadium.  It contains seventeen players from European clubs and only two based in South America, midfielder Claudio Husain of Argentina's Valez Sarsfield and defender Juan Pablo Sorin of Brazil's Cruzeiro.

Most of the players based in Argentina are unavailable for selection because Argentina's top four club sides begin their Copa Libertadores campaigns just before the England match.  Bielsa also said he wishes to see his main foreign-based players under the pressure of a match against a top opponent.

The most notable absentees are midfielders Fernando Redondo of Real Madrid and Marcelo Gallardo of AS Monaco.  Argentine news reports indicated that Bielsa preferred the more combative duo of Matias Almeyda and Diego Simeone, both of Lazio, over the playmaking Redondo, apparently a reflection of his estimate of English football.  Gallardo is injured.

The match at what Argentine newspaper El Claron called the "Catedral del Futbol" will serve as a preparatory exercise for Argentina's marathon 18-match World Cup 2000 qualification campaign, which opens on 29 March with a home match against Chile.

Friday, 18 February 2000 - Bielsa has called up Boca Juniors defender Rodolfo Martin Arrubarrena to replace the injured Juan Pablo Sorin and as confirmed that midfielder Matias Almeyda will also miss the England match through injury.  Almeyda suffered torn muscle fibres in his right thigh during training with his club side Tuesday.

____________________

CG