Rodriguez is in the line-up coach Jose Pekerman looks set to send out against Ivory Coast in Argentina's opening Group C match in Hamburg on Saturday. A right sided player often regarded as a striker in Spain, where he plays his club football for Atletico Madrid, the 25-year-old is one of Pekerman's most versatile men.
Rodriguez and his team-mates, however, play down suggestions from reporters eager to know who Pekerman's 11 starters will be on Saturday that the team has already been picked. "In these three days that remain before the match a lot of things can change... no-one is sure of his place," he said.

Talent in reserve The consensus among more than 100 reporters who have gathered for Argentina's open training sessions this week is that Pekerman will field the same side that beat Angola 2-0 in a warm-up match in Salerno, Italy last week. In the practice sessions, the defence has lined up with Nicolas Burdisso at right back in the slot vacated by Javier Zanetti, the veteran of two FIFA World Cups whom Pekerman surprisingly left out of his squad. Roberto Ayala and Gabriel Heinze should be in central defence, with captain Juan Pablo Sorin on the left and Javier Mascherano and Esteban Cambiasso occupying the defensive midfield roles.
Rodriguez will be largely entrusted with feeding the attack from the right with Juan Roman Riquelme dictating play down the centre or from the left. Hernan Crespo will lead the attack, probably playing off Javier Saviola, who appears to be preferred as a starter to Carlos Tevez. Wonder boy Lionel Messi, only recently back from a thigh injury, is being kept on the bench with a view to sending him on late if the attack needs new spark.
Rodriguez and Sorin scored the goals against Angola in the first half but the excitement came in the final half hour when substitutes Messi, Tevez and Pablo Aimar ran rings around the defence and hit the woodwork twice. Pekerman will be hoping for a similar pattern on Saturday.