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Veron warns England of history

Juan Sebastian Veron has warned England that they will not be able to escape the shadow of Argentina legend Maradona when the teams meet in the World Cup.

It is 16 years since Maradona rose to punch his infamous 'Hand of God' goal in Mexico before running unchecked through the England defence, and Veron sought to reopen old wounds when he told Sven Goran Eriksson's team to expect similar problems when the teams meet in Japan on June 7.

He said:'I think the World Cup will go very well for us. People say we don't have a Maradona this time. In my view, we have 23 Maradonas. England should know that.

'For us, it is the championship or nothing. We want nothing to stop us.'

Veron has endured a difficult season at Manchester United and echoed Sir Alex Ferguson's recent comments that he has been the victim of a witchunt since England and Argentina were drawn in the same World Cup group.

He added:'In England, they never gave me a chance. As soon as the draw was made, I was alternating with Beckham and they asked why an Argentinian played instead of an Englishman.

'Then I was under siege when Aldo Duscher had the bad luck to injure Beckham.They said it was prepared by my national coach Marcelo Bielsa.'

Bielsa named Veron and Rangers striker Claudio Caniggia in his squad yesterday, but there was no room for Barcelona forward Javier Saviola.