SK Punang

Argentina

Lionel Messi, acknowledged as the best player in the world the last two years, has been called a magician, the way the ball seems to stick to his small feet as he weaves in and out of traffic.

The extent of his powers will be revealed in this World Cup, when a worldwide audience will see whether Messi's gifts can make Argentina's top hat full of problems disappear - pfft! - like so many defenders.

Argentina has a roster full of stars - Tevez, Mascherano, DeMichelis, Messi, etc. - and a bench full of them, too, with Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain candidates to be on the sidelines.

Its riches are embarrassing enough that Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso, who started at midfield for Inter Milan in the Champions League final, were not even picked.

But for myriad reasons - the bizarre habits of the coach, Diego Maradona, a lackluster defense or poor chemistry - Argentina needed to beat Uruguay in its final qualifying match simply to avoid a playoff.

Most puzzling is how Messi does not seem to be the same player he is for Barcelona, a creative force out on the right flank who has the freedom to roam and play off his teammates.

Nevertheless, Messi is the player to whom Argentina is pinning its hopes. The Albicelestes have had inelegant exits from recent World Cups - blowing a late lead and going out to Germany on penalty kicks in 2006, losing to rival England and not making it out of group play in 2002, and being knocked out in the quarterfinals by the Netherlands on an 89th-minute goal in 1998.

Argentina has not been beyond the quarterfinals since 1990 and has not won the World Cup since 1986, when it was led by another diminutive wizard - Maradona.

This time, the weight will be carried by the spindly legs and sloping shoulders of the 23-year-old Messi, who may not always know where he is going, but who more often than not finds his way there.