GELSENKIRCHEN: Argentina produced the performance so far of the World Cup to soar towards the second round in scintillating style with a 6-0 battering of Serbia & Montenegro in Group C on Friday.

Winger Maxi Rodriguez scored twice, Esteban Cambiasso and Hernan Crespo rounded off two other brilliant goals before substitutes Carlos Tevez and wonderkid Lionel Messi completed the demolition with super individual finishes.

Even pre-tournament favourite and holder Brazil will be wary of its fellow South Americans after this perfect exhibition of football against Serbia, a strong team which was made to look like a second-rated team even before being reduced to 10 men.

Only a freakish run of results from the group's remaining matches, also involving the Netherlands and the Ivory Coast, can deny Argentina a spot in the next round with a goal difference of plus seven with a game against the Dutch to play.

Classic understatement

"When the team pulls together like that you get results," Tevez told reporters with classic understatement. "It was really nice to see the combination play. It is an honour to play with so many great players."

Serbia & Montenegro coach Ilija Petkovic could only watch on in awe as Argentina established itself as new favourite for a third World Cup title.

"Our opponents were better in every part of the game and they deserve a victory," he told reporters. "I can only say congratulations. New generations will speak about this result."

The first two goals were masterpieces.

With Diego Maradona cheering in the stands, Argentina got off to a perfect start with Rodriguez scoring in the sixth minute. He finished off his shot at the end of perfect passes down the left side from captain Juan Pablo Sorin and Javier Saviola.

Argentina made it 2-0 in the 31st, a classic goal by Cambiasso, who entered in the 17th for the injured Luis Gonzalez. Argentina held possession with a string of two dozen passes. At the finish, Saviola found Cambiasso, who found Crespo, who back-heeled the ball for Cambiasso's left-footed finish.

``This is a very good group,'' Cambiasso said. ``The team is solid, and we have a lot of confidence. ... It couldn't have gone better.

The moment I came in, one of the first balls I touch is a goal. We're really working well as a group,'' he added. ``This team is solid and we are very confident. We know we haven't achieved anything yet. We have to stay relaxed on the path we want to take, because it's a long road and it's hardly just begun.''

Ole, Ole

Argentine fans, starting to sense something special, were deafening in the closed-roof stadium with chants of ``Ole, Ole'' and ``AR-gen-tina, AR-gen-tina.''

Another screaming serenade, with Diego Maradona swirling a blue-and-white jersey above his head and joining in, also rang out over and over, Vamos a salir campeones, como en '86, or ``we're going to be champions, just like in '86.''

Maradona helped Argentina win that last title, and watching this rout, it's not difficult to start believing it could happen again.

All-round creativity

With playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme closely marked by Albert Nadj, creation came from all sectors of the Argentine side.

Coach Jose Pekerman had been forced after only a quarter of an hour to revert to his starting line-up from Argentina's 2-1 win over Ivory Coast last weekend, bringing Cambiasso on when Luis Gonzalez, the only change in the line-up, looked like he pulled a muscle.

Rodriguez made it 3-0 before halftime when Saviola robbed the ball from Mladen Krstajic out on the right wing and ran into the box to shoot low. Jevric got a hand to the ball but it ran free for Rodriguez to tap in at the far post for his second. Rodriquez's second involved more grit than guile and he did a flying somersault to celebrate the goal.

Rodriguez said, ``It was an incredible performance. But we have to win the next game too. Our aim now is to beat the Netherlands and get the most points possible.''

Argentina brought on Tevez for Saviola and just past the hour Mateja Kezman was sent off for a two-footed tackle on Javier Mascherano.

Messi's debut

To great acclaim from a vast majority of Argentines in the capacity 52,000 crowd, Pekerman sent on Messi in the 74th minute for his World Cup debut. With 12 minutes left he made his presence felt, breaking down the left and sending a low ball into the box for Crespo to tuck in.

If Serbia thought the agony was over it was cruelly mistaken. First, with six minutes left, Tevez cut in from the left, nutmegged a defender before finishing calmly with a low shot home.

Tevez, who is only 22 and a coming star with 18-year-old Messi, praised the teamwork — the deft passes and perfectly timed shots. With only four players back from the 2002 team which exited in the first round, this team is young and a pure product of coach Jose Pekerman.

Seventeen of the 23-man team played for Pekerman when he coached Argentina to three world youth titles — '95, '97 and 2001.

With two minutes remaining, Messi brought the huge Argentine fan presence to its feet yet again with a low shot through the legs of the keeper after finding room in the area.

On a clear day, the game was played under a closed roof — a move to give TV a shadow-free field. — Agencies

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