Peru's dreams of winning the event on home soil in July were wrecked when they lost 1-0 to the eventual runners-up in the quarter-final to a brilliant Carlos Tevez freekick.

They now face a huge task against a team which could contain up to seven members of the side which won the Olympic gold medal in Athens only one week ago.

Peru will also have to end a streak of four successive defeats against Argentina, which also includes a friendly played in the United States in June and both meetings in the qualifying competition for the 2002 World Cup.

The match comes at the end of a three-month marathon for Argentina which began with two World Cup qualifiers, continued with the Copa America -- where they lost on penalties to Brazil in the final -- and was followed by the Olympics.

It has been a period which has seen the emergence of young players such as Luis Gonzalez, Javier Mascherano and 20-year-old Tevez, while some old favourites -- such as Hernan Crespo and Juan Sebastian Veron -- have fallen by the wayside.

Veron and Crespo were initially picked for the game but then dropped, apparently to appease their club AC Milan.

Midfielder Cristian Gonzalez promised there would be no let-up after winning the Olympic gold last Saturday.

"It was an important achievement but now we have to face Peru and we have a duty to win," said Gonzalez, who played in the Olympics as one of three Argentina's three overage players.

"The fundamental thing is that we've been playing good football, which is something the public always demand."

Argentina go into the match in a comfortable position, lying second in the 10-nation South American qualifying group with 12 points from seven games.

Peru, seventh but only three points behind, go into the match amid speculation that their Brazilian coach Paulo Autuori could lose his job if they lose again.

They are still without Bayern Munich striker Claudio Pizarro, who suffered a head injury during a Copa America match against Venezuela.

Autuori, still refusing to talk to Peruvian media after a tabloid newspaper carried reports of drinking binges by two of his players before the Copa America, admitted his team had a difficult task in front of them.

"You can't stop genius," Autuori told reporters.

PROBABLE TEAMS
Peru: Oscar Ibanez; Guillermo Salas, Santiago Acasiete, John Galliquio, Walter Vilchez; Jorge Soto, Juan Jayo, Nolberto Solano, Roberto Palacios; Andres Mendoza, Jefferson Farfan

Argentina: Roberto Abbondanzieri; Fabricio Coloccini, Gabriel Heinze, Gabriel Milito; Javier Zanetti, Javier Mascherano, Andres D'Alessandro, Cristian Gonzalez, Juan Pablo Sorin; Cesar Delgado, Carlos Tevez

Referee: Carlos Eugenio Simon (Brazil) (writing by Brian Homewood)