The 2002 World Cup finished 433 days ago and the next final is still nearly three years away, but the qualifiers for the 2006 tournament get under way in South America on Saturday.

The first ball will be kicked in Buenos Aires where twice champions Argentina, who provided one of the most spectacular flop of last year's tournament in South Korea and Japan, take on neighbours and arch-rivals Chile.

Brazil, who beat Germany 2-0 in Yokohama on June 30 last year to win an unprecedented fifth world title, launch their defence one day later in the steamy Caribbean port of Barranquilla, new FIFA rules having deprived them of a guaranteed place in the finals.

Ronaldo, who scored both goals against Germany in the 2002 final, will play the first World Cup qualifier of his remarkable career.

Recent qualifying competitions have kicked off on small Caribbean islands but a curious combination of circumstances deprived the likes of Dominica and Dutch Antilles from briefly capturing the attention of the football world.

The 2002 qualifiers were launched in Port of Spain, where Trinidad beat the Dutch Antilles 5-0, while the road to France in 1998 began at a rickety cricket ground on the tiny Caribbean island of Dominica.

This time, the action will focus on the 60,000-capacity Monumental stadium on the banks of the River Plate, venue for the final in 1978 when Argentina beat the Netherlands.

EARLY START

The early start is the result of a compromise between FIFA and the South American nations, who wanted to retain their marathon qualifying tournament in which the 10 teams play each other twice.

Previously, the qualifiers were squeezed into 18 months, angering European clubs who lost many of their South American players on a monthly basis as they journeyed across the Atlantic to represent their countries.

By spreading the qualifiers over a longer period, the South Americans have managed to retain the format while fitting in with FIFA's co-ordinated calendar. However this compromise has produced anomalies.

Three years is a long time for a team to stay intact and the Argentina side that will launch the campaign on Saturday could have a very different look to the one which finally competes in Germany -- providing they qualify.

The 2006 World Cup qualifiers begin before the 16 finalists have been settled for next year's European championships while three Champions League finals, two African Nations Cups and a Copa America will be played between Saturday and the 2006 finals.

By July 2006, Brazil's Cafu, who is due to captain his team on Sunday, will be 36, Rivaldo will be 34 and even Ronaldo will be nearing his 30th birthday.

Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will be 63 and assistant director Mario Zagallo will be a month short of his 75th birthday. Former World Cup hero Romario, ever-hopeful of a national team recall, will be 40.

FIFA BACKTRACK

Argentina's match with Chile will be immediately followed by Ecuador against Venezuela in Quito and Peru against Paraguay in Lima. The remaining match on Sunday is between Uruguay and Bolivia.

The top four teams from South America will qualify for the 2006 finals, with the fifth playing off for a further spot.

Last year, FIFA took away the "half" place for the fifth team and gave the Oceania region a direct slot at the finals, but they backtracked at another meeting in May.

Argentina, who have not missed a World Cup since 1970, and Brazil, the only country to have played at all 17 finals, are considered almost certainties to qualify.

Colombia, Uruguay and Paraguay are considered the strongest of the other contenders, although Peru, Chile and Ecuador are likely to put up a fight.

Baseball-loving Venezuela are the only members of the South American Confederation who have never qualified for the World Cup finals, but they have improved vastly in the last two years.

Bolivia, now led by former Chile coach Nelson Acosta, appear to depend too heavily on playing their home matches in La Paz, at 3,600 metres above sea level.

While their opponents appear to be getting better at adapting to the conditions, Bolivia have not won a game at low altitude since they beat Guatemala in March 1999.