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BUENOS AIRES, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Argentina coach Alfio Basile dismissed criticism of his team's performance in their 2-1 defeat by Norway, saying it was more important to test new players.
Basile rested several regulars in Wednesday's friendly in Oslo, including playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme, whose future at club level remains uncertain.
"The moment of truth will be the World Cup qualifiers," said Basile, whose team begin their attempt to qualify for the 2010 World Cup with a home match against neighbours Chile in October.
"That's when you can demand results -- when we play with what I consider to be the first team," he told reporters on returning to Buenos Aires.
"The (Norway) game was to experiment with players and you can't do much work in only two or three days because there isn't time."
Wednesday's game was Argentina's first since the traumatic 3-0 defeat by Brazil in the Copa America final last month.
Basile's last chance to test players will be in a friendly away to Australia on Sept. 11.
"The same thing will happen against Australia. It will be useful to analyse the players, especially the ones who have played fewer games for the national side," he said.
Basile added that his first-choice team would continue to be based around Riquelme, who is still looking for a new club after Spain's Villareal, who own him, said he did not feature in their plans for this season.
"Riquelme is the one who's been chosen, we don't have a similar player and so, when he's not in the team, we have to use a different system," said Basile.
