“Finishing top of the group is one good thing,” said Hugo Tocalli on Tuesday 19 August, before adding, “The return of Lucas Biglia is another.” The Argentina coach obviously holds the talented Argentinos Juniors player in high esteem. Biglia, who models himself on Fernando Redondo, will certainly give the Albiceleste an added dimension when they face Mexico, and who knows, perhaps help them all the way to the Final. We spoke to the youngster.

Are you completely over your injury?
I received a few knocks to my knee in the first half of our first game and the doctors detected a lesion. But thank God I’m over it. I’ll be ready for Mexico on Saturday.

What will you bring to the team?
My game consists of getting the best out of my team-mates. I’ll be trying to set them up even better than they have been up till now so we carry on winning. But they’ve done very well without me up till now. We are strong in all departments of the game and we are improving all the time. We have to continue in the same vein to be ready for the next game, which will be a very difficult one.

What do you know about your next opponents Mexico?
We played them in 2001 and in a tournament in Italy in 2002, in Salerno. We won once and drew once. So we know them well, their game and…their coach! He is an Argentinian, Humberto Grondona, the son of the Argentinian Football Association President.

What did your coach say this morning in his pep talk?
He spoke about yesterday’s win over Nigeria and congratulated the players who made it possible. He also went over some mistakes – we always make them in a game. And now we have to concentrate on Saturday’s game.

I get the impression you are confident.
Our mentality is all about winning. You saw that against Nigeria, even though certain people wondered if we would go all out. We brought in newcomers who showed what they were worth. We want this title.

Who are your most feared opponents in this competition?
We respect everybody and we will try to beat them all. But Brazil look strong, Portugal too, the USA and Cameroon.

Aside from this tournament, what are you hoping for when you head home?
Ideally, I’d like to win a place in the Argentinos Juniors first team. My club. But naturally it isn’t just up to me. We’ll see.