Perhaps Hoddle, like every other English soul, was still in shock after the earlier goal attributed to the Hand of God (or Hand of a Little Sod, as Hoddle's then room-mate and modern-day scout Kenny Sansom refers to it) had been allowed by an inexperienced Tunisian referee. David Beckham was 11, and planting free-kicks between trees in the back garden.

These now-grown boys - bold, fearless, fresh of mind and legs - give England their best chance of success on Tuesday against a forbidding Argentina side which have yet to face any real pace and thrust in the World Cup. Owen and Beckham speed up the tempo of the whole team as well as going some themselves.

Asin 1986, Argentina appear an Everest of an opponent for England; indeed for anyone. Having glided through Group H on cruise control, they are a team waiting to use top gear. What is more, they look like a team with their hands on the gear stick; when they need to accelerate, they will. It's as if they have been reserving their best shots for the real business of the knockouts.

Daniel Passarella's side are a fusion of athleticism and aestheticism, with power and panache in all areas of the field. Up front, the prolific Batistuta and the impishly skilful Ortega are perfect decoys for one another: concentrate on shackling one and the other will find space to work his craft. Passarella even has the option of bringing the industrious Lopez into the equation by playing Ortega in a more withdrawn role, where he might roam to even more devastating effect.

Their midfield creators are similarly potent weapons: Veron is an action man with an elegant touch, and the baby-faced Gallardo, Boca Juniors' 22-year-olddynamo, is growing in stature with every game as a supporting artist.

Defensively, they have yet to be breached, although, in fairness, they haven't been tested too severely by Jamaica, Japan and Croatia. The goalkeeper Roa does look prone to lapses of concentration and the experienced Sensini is unlikely to recover from injury. A ball planted on Shearer's head or the breakneck speed of Owen could pose Argentina their first real challenge of the tournament. But, then, England must first win the battle for the midfield heartland against the controlled aggression of Simeone, Almeyda and company.

As the only team other than the hosts France to collect maximum points in the opening phase, and with Tuesday's second-round match in St Etienne as close as can be to a home match - just down the road from their base in L'Etrat - Argentina have reason for confidence.

Should fortune follow form, they have an oustanding chance to lift the World Cup for the first time since Maradona's urchin paws lofted the trophyhigh in 1986, only to leave behind a dark and indelible smear. Incidentally, Argentine histrionics against Croatia on Friday fooled the referee on an uncomfortable number of occasions.

To this day the affront of the Hand of God has never been avenged. What rankles most is that England were so painfully close four years later when, but for the nightmare outcome of a penalty shootout in the semi-finals, an unconvincing Argentina awaited in the final in Rome. Bobby Robson, the manager of the time, is in no doubt as to who would have won that little encounter. But it wasn't to be: Gascoigne sobbed, Beckham watched aghast on television, and who knows what impression the sight of England's 1990 boy wonder reduced to tears made on the 10-year-old Owen.

Teams

England: David Seaman (1), Gary Neville (12), Tony Adams (5), Sol Campbell (2), Darren Anderton (14), David Beckham (7), Paul Ince (4), Paul Scholes (16), Graeme le Saux (3); Michael Owen (2), Alan Shearer (9).
Argentina: Carlos Roa (1);Nelson Vivas (14), Roberto Ayala (2), Jose Camot (3); Javier Zenetti (22), Matias Almeyda (5), Juan Veron (11), Ariel Ortega (10), Diego Simeone (8), Gabriel Batistuta (9), Claudio Lopez (7).