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52 CECILIA CAMINOS, DPA ARGENTINA have a mighty attack led by superstar striker Lionel Mes- si, but Sabella is willing to sacrifice some of that to give the team more versatility and clout in defence. Before the squad left their World Cup headquarters in Belo Horizonte for Rio on Friday, he tested his ideal team in a 4-3-3 formation, but also tried variants like 4-4-2 and 5-3-2. It is yet to be seen whether Sabella opts for Gonzalo Higuain, who has recovered from an ankle injury, or the alternative of Ezequiel Lavezzi. Forwards Messi and Sergio Aguero are virtually certain to start, as are midfielders Maxi Rodriguez, Javier Mascherano and Angel Di Maria. The defence is widely regarded as Argentina's weakest link, but Sabel- la and his men are working hard to improve it. "The defence has consolidated in recent times. It is different from the one that people criticized," said Manchester City right-back Pablo Zabaleta. Argentina are among the top fa- vourites to lift the trophy at Mara- cana on July 13, based among other things on the fact that they can rely on Messi's enormous talent, and they want to make a good start Sun- day against Bosnia. "It's been a long time since we had such a good season in individ- ual terms for Argentine defenders," Mascherano said. Zabaleta and Martin Demichelis won the Premier League title, while Garay won three titles with Portu- guese club Benfica. Keeper Sergio Romero did not have such a good time at Monaco, where he hardly played. "Sabella's support gave me huge peace of mind, and I am trying to do my best to pay him back," Romero admitted. "Whether we play with four de- fenders or with three centre-backs and two wing backs changes ab- solutely nothing for me," Romero stressed. The Group F match against Bosnia is the first of the seven that Argen- tina want to play en route to their third World Cup trophy. The South American football gi- ants know Bosnia relatively well, since the two played a friendly in November in the US city of Saint Louis. Messi was injured at the time, but Argentina won that match 2-0 with a brace from Aguero. Argentina know they will really have to watch out for Bosnian strik- er Edin Dzeko. "Edin is a very important man for Bosnia: he is a great player, and a powerful forward," said his Man- chester City team-mate Zabaleta. "But Bosnia are not just Dzeko." Bosnia coach Safet Susic has stressed that he will not "sacrifice" a player to man-mark Messi. "Messi sometimes stands around for several minutes without being involved in play," he argued. It remained to be seen how much Messi will take part in play on Sun- day, particularly after a relatively lacklustre season. Just in case, how- ever, Susic knows that, at his best, the Argentine striker is arguably the world's best player, so he will not give him complete freedom at Maracana. "Every time he has the ball, he has to have one man on him," the Bosnia coach admitted. In a group that also holds Iran and Nigeria, Bosnia's chances of making it to the round of 16 large- ly depend on them keeping Messi, Aguero and the rest of Argentina's powerful players well in check. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 JUNE 2014 52 WIN A HOLIDAY TO BRAZIL PLUS MANY OTHER PRIZES TO BE WON EVERYDAY! 1.Enter the promotional code found on the back of the label. 2. Log on to pepsifootball.com.mt and follow the instructions. Argentina want versatility, not just attacking football against Bosnia Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella has few doubts regarding his starting line-up Sunday against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium. Argentinian national soccer team players Lionel Messi (R) and Sergio Aguero (L). Photo by EPA/BALLESTEROS The 2014 World Cup Get all the latest updates