Meanwhile, World Cup co-hosts South Korea have published an ambitious friendly schedule that will take them from California to Tunisia and back home to face champions France just five days before the finals open on May 31.

The Korean team, coached by Dutchman Guus Hiddink, will face the United States and others at the January 18-February 3 COPACA Gold Cup in Los Angeles, then fly to Montevideo for a February 14 friendly against the Uruguay national team.

Next stop is North Africa for a friendly with Tunisia on March 13 to be followed by two games in Europe, against Finland on March 20 and Turkey on March 27.

Italy will begin their World Cup warm-up campaign with a friendly against the United States on February 13. The game will be played in Catania, on the southern Italian island of Sicily.

Italy last faced the U.S. in 1992 in Chicago where the teams drew 1-1. The two nations have met each other seven times, Italy winning five of them and drawing the other two. After facing the U.S., Italy will meet England in Leeds on March 27 and hope to arrange another friendly for April.

Veron: Warning to rivals (ShaunBotterill/Allsport)

England's matches in Japan will be more heavily policed than any others, a leading Japanese official has revealed.

'We would expect that around 500-700 police will be operating very high levels of security at England's matches,' Ko Yamaguchi, the director general of communications for the Japanese Organising Committee said.

'There will be more police at England matches than at other games in the finals although I cannot give you the exact number of police on duty at those other matches.'

Manchester United's Argentine international midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron says his country have a secret weapon that could be launched at the World Cup finals - the strike pairing of Hernan Crespo and Gabriel Batistuta.

'We have a secret weapon - the two strikers, Batistuta and Crespo,' said Veron, 'I don't know how many nations can call on two strikers as strong as they are.'

Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa has been reluctant to use them together and many observers consider the pair to be too similar to each other to make a workable partnership. But Veron believes they could prove to be an effective duo at the World Cup.

'It is not for me to judge but I am certain that if one doesn't score then the other one will - and that can only be good for Argentina,' said Veron.

Finally, Swedish international midfielder Hakan Mild is delaying surgery on a groin injury in a bid to play in the finals.

'I'm not going to have an operation, at least not now. I'm going to try rehabilitation and hope that it'll go away,' TT quoted Mild as saying.

The Swede, 30, suffered the injury after only four matches for Wimbledon, who he joined late last year from Swedish club IFK Gothenburg.

Sweden's national team coach Lars Lagerback, however, is concerned over Mild's injury, with the World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan only four-and-a-half months away.

Mild, who has not played for a month, has earned 74 caps for Sweden and Lagerback relies a great deal on his experience with the national side.