Heinze hungry for action as Argentina play waiting game with Messi

ALEX FERGUSON’S motives over Wayne Rooney’s World Cup participation may have been questioned but Gabriel Heinze has no doubt he will owe the Manchester United manager a big debt when he runs out at the AOL Arena in Hamburg tonight.

Heinze thought his appearance in Germany this summer had been wrecked by the ruptured cruciate ligament he suffered on Champions League duty for the Red Devils in Villarreal last September.

But a patient recovery in Spain has seen Heinze recover and though he managed only a couple of reserve-team outings for United before linking up with the Argentinian squad, he has done enough in a couple of friendlies to ensure his presence in the Group C opener against the Ivory Coast.

And, as he lines up for the national anthems, he will offer a secret word of thanks to Ferguson.

“He spoke to me regularly and continued to give me encouragement,” said the 28-year-old. “It was a complicated injury and I never thought I would make the World Cup. But everyone at United helped me through that difficult time and I also have to thank Sir Alex for letting me go to Spain and recover from my injury in the best possible way.”

Before he had even made a first-team appearance for United, the former Paris St Germain star defied Ferguson by turning out for Argentina in their successful bid to win the 2004 Olympic tournament in Greece.

“I have always said that wearing the shirt of the Argentina national team is not an opportunity that is given to just anybody,” he said.

“You welcome the chance every time you wear the shirt, which for me stirs very deep feelings.”

If Heinze’s presence against the Ivory Coast is already assured, coach Jose Pekerman has yet to decide whether to unleash star man Lionel Messi on the highly-rated Africans.

The brilliant Barcelona player has been plagued by a thigh problem for the past few months, but the indications are he will start a game which could prove vital to Argentina’s chance of advancing out of a group which also contains Holland and Serbia and Montenegro, both of whom hold realistic hopes of reaching the last 16.

The tightness of the group means little will be given away and midfielder Javier Mascherano, a World Youth Cup winner in 2001, expects a defence-orientated opening clash when Group C kicks off tonight night with a clash which pits Chelsea strikers Hernan Crespo and Didier Drogba against each other.

“It is not going to be an open game,” he said. “The Ivory Coast are not just physical opponents, they also have good footballers,” said Crespo.

Meanwhile, Drogba will consider his Chelsea future later in the summer and insists he is not worried by speculation surrounding his future at Stamford Bridge following the arrival of Andriy Shevchenko from AC Milan for £31m.

He said: “It is true at each end of season you have to take stock and ask yourself some questions. But now it is not topical. At first I have a World Cup to play. If today there is speculation about me, that means I have worth.

“Frankly, which player would not dream to play with Shevchenko, Ballack, Lampard or Makelele? When I see Jose Mourinho willing to keep me, I told myself it is not only friendship that dictates his behaviour.”