Argentina have recalled Gabriel Batitusta for the first time in six months but, as on the previous occasion he was picked, fellow striker Hernan Crespo was unavailable through injury.

Manchester United midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron was also named in the squad for the friendly away to Germany in two weeks' time despite worries about a possible Achilles tendon damage as Argentina's injury worries piled up.

Midfield hard man Diego Simeone, still recovering from a knee operation last year, and central defender Roberto Ayala were both omitted due to injury.

Batistuta and Crespo, two of the world's top strikers, have not been in the same starting line-up since coach Marcelo Bielsa took over three years ago and Tuesday's selection went no nearer to solving the mystery as to whether he will field the pair together at the World Cup.

Crespo has generally taken precedence over Batitusta but the AS Roma player, who has also been hampered by injuries, scored the equaliser away to Paraguay in November when he made his international comeback after nearly a year.

Veteran striker Claudio Caniggia, who made his international comeback in February at the age of 35 after five years in the wilderness, was picked for the third game in a row while Real Madrid's Santiago Solari, who did not play in Argentina's qualifiers, was also named.

Argentina, who in their two matches this year have drawn 1-1 with Wales and 2-2 with Cameroon, have been beset by injury worries.

The injuries are threatening to wreck a team which marched through the South American World Cup qualifying competition with 13 wins in 18 games.

Defenders Nelson Vivas and Eduardo Berizzo have both been ruled out of the World Cup and the latest worry concerns Veron's heel.

Veron did not travel with

Manchester United for Tuesday's Champions League match away to Deportivo Coruna and, although a scan last week revealed no broken bones, the English champions said the heel was still troubling him and that he would see a specialist.

Crespo injured his ankle in training with his Italian club Lazio two weeks ago and tests on showed that he had damaged his ligaments.

He missed the match with Cameroon and is expected to be out of action for a total of four weeks.

Bielsa, who was not available to comment on his selections, picked 19 foreign-based players in the squad announced Tuesday, leaving three of four places for home-b-~-d-l t„ I d L^t^

SQUAD

Goalkeepers: German Burgos (Atletico Madrid, Spain), Pablo Cavallero (Celta Vigo, Spain) Defenders: Facundo Quiroga (Sporting Lisbon, Portugal), Mauricio Pochettino (Paris St Germain, France), Walter Samuel (AS Roma, Italy), Diego Placente (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Jose Chamot (AC Milan, Italy)

Midfielders: Javier Zanetti

(Inter Milan, Italy), Juan Sebastian Veron (Manchester United, England), Juan Pablo Sorin (Cruzeiro, Brazil), Pablo Aimar (Valencia, Spain), Matias Almeyda (Parma, Italy), Marcelo Gallardo (As Monaco, France).

Forwards: Claudio Caniggia

(Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Gabriel Batistuta (AS Roma, Italy), Kily Gonzalez (Valencia, Spain), Gustavo Lopez (Celta Vigo, Spain), Claudio Lopez (Lazio, Italy), Santiago Solari