Argentina's coach has won over many of his fiercest critics, writes Paddy Agnew

Last January, Argentina's coach José Pekerman travelled to Europe for a check-up on the form of his likely World Cup squad. While he was in Spain, the sports daily AS asked him about his plans for Germany 2006 and in particular just why he had opted to build the team around the controversial Villareal playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme.

For the millions of fans who have delighted in just about everything Riquelme has done at this tournament, the question might now seem strange. Yet, last January it was a legitimate one, at least in Spanish eyes. Riquelme, after all, was the player who had moved to Barcelona from Boca Juniors in July 2002 on an 11-million transfer only to be deemed a major flop at the demanding Camp Nou and loaned out to Villareal at the end of the season.

For some critics, Riquelme was a luxury item, blessed with wonderful vision and great passing ability but simply too slow for the demands of the modern, ultra-athletic game.

Pekerman, however, saw it differently, telling AS: "It is rare to see a young player stand by his way of playing when it is often far easier to just go along with what you are told to do. In this sense Riquelme is a rebel and there are not enough rebels like him around. You can make people run faster, get them to pressure the other side, alter the strategy . . . but one thing that never changes is the vision. You don't need to run quickly to have this. I have a lot of confidence in him."

Confidence and trust are the key to describing Pekerman's relationship with his squad. There was a telling moment in Argentina's epic 2-1 win over Mexico in Leipzig when, just as the first half of extra time was about to begin, Pekerman gathered all his players around him. Often at moments like that, players retreat to another, inner world, caught up in their own athletic trance. The Argentine players, however, all gathered closely around Pekerman, gave him eye-to-eye contact and appeared to be listening as attentively as 12-year-olds on a school outing to a foreign land.

The point, of course, is that 57-year-old Pekerman and his players go back a long way. Appointed Argentine under-20 coach in 1994, Pekerman won three under-20 World Cups with sides that have featured Riquelme, Juan Pablo Sorin, Esteban Cambiasso, Carlos Tevez, Nicolas Burdisso, Javier Saviola and others. Thirteen of the 23 players Pekerman brought to Germany have played in his under-20 teams.

When Pekerman opted to leave such as the Inter Milan trio of midfielder Sebastien Veron and defenders Walter Samuel and Javier Zanetti out of his squad, many of us found the decisions hard to understand. Looking at Argentina's defensive problems against Mexico, you could argue the side badly needs Samuel in central defence and Zanetti at right back.

Yet, Pekerman obviously had his own vision, his own knowledge of just which players would gel and get on with one another during the almost-two-month period of World Cup preparation and competition. He may well have suspected, too, that to bring along one or two Argentine "senators" and then leave them on the bench would only cause problems.

Win or lose against the host nation, Germany, in Berlin tomorrow, Pekerman has already seen off a lot of his critics. National team coaches are never short of advice or criticism - just ask Sven-Goran Eriksson, Marcello Lippi and Carlos Alberto Parreira.

Yet not many have had to handle sustained criticism from such an influential figure as Diego Maradona, still the untouchable god of Argentine football. Almost since the day Pekerman took over Argentina in September 2004, Maradona and others have consistently ridiculed him, his choices and his side, and that despite the fact Argentina were the first side to qualify from the exhausting South American, round-robin group.

Faced with further pressure from Maradona in the run-up to these finals, Pekerman pulled off another, minor tactical masterpiece. Okay, Diego, he said, why not come along to the camp and help us out? Diego declined but the offer does mean he has had total access to the Argentine camp in Herzogenaurach (near Nuremberg), where he has been welcomed by players and Pekerman alike. The result of this is, of course, that Diego is now fully on board and is to be seen at all Argentina's games in the role of number-one fan.

In the week before the World Cup, the popular Argentine TV commentator Gonzalo Bonadeo was still arguing that Pekerman "has no defined style of play", adding that Argentina "needs to score more goals". With 10 goals in four games, with some stunning football against Serbia in the first round and, above all, against Mexico last weekend, Pekerman and Argentina have answered their critics.

Looking forward to tomorrow's game, Pekerman observed earlier this week: "Germany will be another really difficult game. but I'm confident because I think our win against Mexico will make us stronger and help us grow as a team.

"Football is a combination of tactical discipline, mental stability, a winning mentality and the ability of the players, and overall I think we were worthy winners against Mexico," Overall, most of us would say, Argentina are a pretty worthy team, with a worthy coach.