PARIS Diego Maradona's father no longer does the cooking but Argentina's World Cup squad are still planning to eat a huge amount of beef during the finals. We're going to deliver half a tonne of meat to their training camp, said Jorge Santamarina, owner of the carnar (carne Argentina) meat importing firm supplying the squad. This is the equivalent of 33 head of cattle.

Beef, the staple diet of Argentines, is something the twice World Cup winners cannot do without for the month or so they will spend in France. The half-tonne consignment is intended to keep the Argentine delegation in beef from their arrival in France next week until the July 12 final. They will use refrigeration facilities to store the meat at their World Cup headquarters in L'etrat on the outskirts of St Etienne. When Argentina won their second World Cup crown in Mexico in 1986, Maradona's father, also called Diego, did the cooking using an 'Asado', a large barbecue, for the whole squad.

Santamarina said Argentina may not be the only World Cup squad eating Argentine beef during the tournament. The Germans took Argentine meat with them to England when they played there, he said, referring to the Euro 96 tournament. Germany takes 90 percent of Argentine meat exports to Europe, he said. It was then that Santamarina realized he could offer his country's national team the same for the World Cup finals in France. Once Argentina had secured their place among the 32 finalists, Argentine Football Association President Julion Grondona gave Santamarina the go-ahead.

Santamarina, who set up Carnar in 1980 originally to provide diplomats with Argentine beef, imports prime quality cuts produced by leading Estancias, the huge cattle farms of the pampas in the provinces of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe. (Reuters)