2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa - - Final Squad For Argentina Announced by Coach Diego Maradona

Argentinian Coach Diego Maradona has announced 23-man Argentina squad for FIFA World Cup 2010. Earlier, he named 30-man provisional squad creating some surprises by excluding players like Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso. In fact, there are some surprises in this final squad too.

The 23-member squad includes 6 forwards that surprised many. Boca Juniors striker Martín Palermo has been included, and thus, he is going to play his first world cup at the age of 36. Palermo’s 20-year-old midfielder Javier Pastore is the only uncapped player in the squad. Colon defender Ariel Garcé has been surprisingly named for the final squad too.

There are only 6 players from Argentina league. Midfielder Veron is the highest capped player in the squad with 69 caps. Lionel Messi is the highest scorer in the squad with 13 goals.

Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Sosa, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Juan Mercier, Jesus Datolo, Juan Insaurralde and Sebastian Blanco have been excluded from the squad.

For defense, Maradona named 4 centre defenders: Burdisso, Demichelis, Walter Samuel and Otamendi. Garcé, Heinze and Rodríguez have been included as full backs.

There are 2 attacking minded midfielders in Pastore and Veron, while Ángel di Maria, Maxi Rodríguez and Gutiérrez will be deployed in the two wings. Maradona has 2 specialist central midfielders in Bolatti and Mascherano.

There are some in-form forwards in the line up. Messi and Higuaín are the top two goal scorers in Spanish League this season, while Milito has been the second highest scorer in Italian league.

Here is the final 23-man Argentina squad:

Here is the final 23-man Argentina squad:

Role	Players
Goalkeepers	Mariano Andújar (Catania), Sergio Romero (AZ), Diego Pozo (Colón)
Defenders	Nicolás Otamendi (Vélez Sársfield), Clemente Rodríguez (Estudiantes), Nicolás Burdisso (Roma), Martín Demichelis (Bayern Munich), Ariel Garcé (Colón), Walter Samuel (Internazionale), Gabriel Heinze (Marseille)
Midfielders	Ángel Di María (Benfica), Mario Bolatti (Fiorentina), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Jonás Gutiérrez (Newcastle United), Javier Pastore (Palermo), Juan Sebastián Verón (Estudiantes), Javier Pastore (Palermo)
Forwards	Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Gonzalo Higuaín (Real Madrid), Diego Milito (Inter Milan), Carlos Tévez (Manchester City), Sergio Agüero (Atlético Madrid), Martín Palermo (Boca Juniors)