The 24-year-old Palacio is noted for his dribbling skill. Cruz led Italy's Internazionale of Milan with 20 goals, two more than Brazil's Adriano.

Pekerman dropped Inter's Juan Sebastian Veron and Javier Zanetti, Bayern Munich's Martin Demichelis and Real Madrid's Walter Samuel.

The roster:

Goalkeepers: Roberto Abbondanzieri (Boca Juniors), Leonardo Franco (Atletico de Madrid, Spain), Oscar Ustari (Independiente).

Defenders: Roberto Ayala (Valencia, Spain), Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan, Italy), Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo de La Coruna, Spain), Leandro Cufre (AS Roma, Italy), Gabriel Heinze (Manchester United, England), Gabriel Milito (Zaragoza, Spain), Lionel Scaloni (West Ham, England), Juan Pablo Sorin (Villarreal, Spain).

Midfielders: Pablo Aimar (Valencia, Spain), Esteban Cambiasso (Inter Milan, Italy), Julio Cruz (Inter Milan, Italy), Luis Gonzalez (Porto, Portugal), Javier Mascherano (Corinthians, Brazil), Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal, Spain), Maximiliano Rodriguez (Atletico de Madrid, Spain).

Forwards: Hernan Crespo (Chelsea, England), Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Spain), Rodrigo Palacio (Boca Juniors), Javier Saviola (Sevilla, Spain), Carlos Tevez (Corinthians, Brazil).

Costa Rica

Midfielder Roy Miller of Norway's Bodo Glimt was omitted from Costa Rica's roster by coach Alexandre Guimaraes.

"This decision is based on the need to count on players in the center that are good up high, and for this (Miller) cannot be with us," Guimaraes said Sunday. "It's always hard to leave someone, and this hurts me a lot."

Guimaraes chose Saprissa's Gabriel Badilla and Brescia's Gilberto Martinez because they are good in the air and can play in both defense and midfield.

Nine holdovers from the 2002 roster were included, and Guimaraes took a trio of 21-year olds: Gabriel Badilla, Randall Azofeifa and Cristian Bolanos.

Poland

Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek was left off Poland's World Cup roster by coach Pawel Janas in favor of Lukasz Fabianski (Legia Warsaw) and Tomasz Kuszcza (West Bromwich Albion), who have combined for five international appearances. Dudek, Poland's top goalkeeper at the 2002 tournament, spent most of last season on Liverpool's bench.

The decision makes Glasgow Celtic's Artur Boruc the likely starter.

Janas also dropped Wolverhampton forward Tomasz Frankowski, who scored seven goals to help Poland qualify for the tournament, instead taking Pawel Brozek and Ireneusz Jelen.