Egypt will meet Argentina in an exhibition in Cairo Stadium. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab reports on Latin feet on African grounds Argentina, the No 1 football country in the world, will play Egypt in Cairo on 26 March, the first game for Egypt since it won the Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana last month. Wednesday's match is preparation for South American and African World Cup qualifiers later this year. Egypt is playing in Group 12 with DR Congo, Malawi and Djibouti. The Egyptian Football Federation had contacted Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Brazil and Italy for international friendlies but there has been no reply. But Argentina is a fine game in itself. "Argentina is the top ranked team in the world whereas Egypt is 30th," said Mahmoud Alaa, a sports critic. "Although Argentina come without many of their stars, the players who are coming all play in major European clubs. They have the skills and experience. "Argentina is also famous for displaying its unique and amazing team play in all team sports. In 2004 in the Olympics in Athens, Argentina took gold medals in football and basketball, the two most famous team sports "Argentina were World Cup champions in 1978 and 1986, so let's enjoy some Latin football with European strength for change," Alaa added. Egypt's friendlies with Latin American teams are not many despite the passion the game holds on both sides of the ocean: four times against Brazil in the sixties, Colombia in 1990, Chile, and Uruguay in 2006. Argentina's coach Alfio Basile has named a 20-man squad for the fixture, which includes a number of interesting choices in the forward areas. Boca Juniors playmaker Juan Romàn Riquelme has been omitted from the selection, while Inter Milan's Julio Cruz and Porto's Luis Gonzalez and Lisandro Lopez returned to the national team. Uncapped Bordeaux striker Fernando Cavenaghi, who leads his team with 16 goals this season, became the biggest addition to the Argentine national team roster. Porto's Lisandro Lopez was also given the chance for a rare outing. Argentina have left out injured stars Hernan Crespo of Inter Milan, Javiar Saviola of Real Madrid and forward Carlos Tevez of Manchester United. Tevez was sent off in the 2-1 World Cup qualifying defeat to Colombia in November and will miss their next competitive game, another qualifier against Ecuador in June. Basile said he would be interested to see how the team, which usually revolves around Riquelme, would perform without the mercurial playmaker. "When Riquelme doesn't play, the whole system changes," Basile told a news conference in Buenos Aires last week. "He's a player who controls the whole team and it's difficult to find someone else who can do the same thing. "But it's good to test other ways of playing." Basile warned that Egypt, who will be playing their first match since winning the Africa Cup for the second time running last month, would be tough opponents. "It's very difficult to win two successive tournaments in Africa with all those great players. They're a very strong team and they beat all the star players. It will be a tough test." Argentina will also be without forward Lionel Messi, who is expected to be out for six weeks with a thigh injury he suffered during last week's Champions League match for Barcelona against Celtic. Diego Maradona, acclaimed one the best footballers in history, is also invited. Basile is considering a proposal to play Mexico and the United States in consecutive friendlies in early June on opposite US coasts. Depending mainly on players who won the Africa cup, coach Hassan Shehata is fielding 16 local players and seven playing in Europe: Ahmed Hassan (Anderlecht), Hassan Mustafa (Wehda- Saudi Arabia), Mohamed Shawki (Middlesbrough-UK), Wa'el Gomaa (Qatar), Mohamed Zidan (Hamburg-Germany), Ibrahim Said (Turkey), and Sayed Moawad (Turkey). Egypt's African-winning goalkeeper Essam El-Hadari is listed despite the punishment imposed on him by Ahli for absconding to Swiss club Sion, but his participation in the game is not assured. Argentine line-up: Goalkeepers: Roberto Abbondanzieri (Getafe), Oscar Ustari (Getafe), Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar) Defenders: Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan), Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich), Gabriel Milito (Barcelona), Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid), Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo Coruna). Midfielders: Esteban Cambiasso (Inter Milan), Fernando Gago (Real Madrid), Pablo Zabaleta (Espanyol), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Maximiliano Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid), Luis Gonzalez (Porto). Forwards: Julio Cruz (Inter Milan), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Lisandro Lopez (Porto), Fernando Cavenaghi (Girondins Bordeaux), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli).
