Argentina's Rodrigo Palacio warms up during a training session in Vespasiano, near Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Tuesday, June 17, 2014. Argentina plays in group F of the 2014 soccer World Cup. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano) (The Associated Press)
BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil – Rodrigo Palacio celebrated his inclusion in Argentina's highly competitive World Cup squad by scoring a goal in a warm-up against Trinidad and Tobago.
Then he twisted his right ankle in the same match, and his World Cup appeared to be over before it had started.
Now the 32-year-old Inter Milan striker is training with the team again, and dreaming of getting another chance of representing Argentina on the big stage.
Palacio said Tuesday he knows the top choices in the attack are Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and Lionel Messi, "but I'm ready in case the coach needs me, perhaps for a change of tactics."
In the 2006 World Cup, Palacio came on as a substitute in Argentina's opener against Ivory Coast. He hasn't seen any World Cup action since then.
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