Juan Sebastián Verón, Diego Maradona's 35-year-old playmaker, is out of tomorrow's match between Argentina and South Korea at Soccer City.
A calf injury suffered in the second half of Argentina's first match against Nigeria on Saturday has forced the head coach to replace him with Liverpool's Maxi Rodriguez.
“It was difficult to leave Sebastián out because he wants to play and of course nobody wants to lose out in a World Cup,” Maradona said at Argentina's press conference.
“But we have to deal with the possibility of risk. We don't want the injury to become worse and his World Cup to end. I really need him. “I explained the reasons to him and he understood why it was the best thing for the team.
“I was very pleased by the way he responded. To tell you the truth, he has given us a lesson in professionalism. He showed himself to be a man and a leader.
“We may be losing a very important player, but Maxi will do a wonderful job. We'll let Sebastian rest and recover and hope that he can play against Greece, or maybe in a later match.”
© Guardian News and Media 2010
