Argentina's national soccer team coach Diego Maradona put Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez in the attacking line during a training session ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Brazil on Saturday.

Maradona opted the Manchester City striker instead of Sergio Aguero, the other candidate to accompany Messi.

The 11 players Maradona summoned for the training session were Mariano Andujar; Javier Zanetti, Sebastian Dominguez, Nicolas Otamendi, Gabriel Heinze; Maximiliano Rodriguez, Javier Mascherano,Juan Sebastian Veron, Jesus Datolo; Messi and Tevez.

With four rounds remaining to play, Brazil leads the South American qualifying with 27 points, followed by Chile with 26, Paraguay 24 and Argentina 22.

Top four ranked teams in the South American qualifying tournament will automatically advance to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2009)