A Gonzalo Higuain hat trick and an electrifying performance from Carlos Tevez in Thursday's 4-1 win over South Korea showed that Argentina is far from being a one-man team. While all eyes were on Lionel Messi prior to the match, the Real Madrid and Manchester City strikers revealed the Argentines have true strength in depth. Despite struggling to qualify for the competition, few would now bet against them going on to win it after their second stirring display in a week. “We deserved this triumph because this was the type of outcome we'd hinted at achieving against Nigeria,” said coach Diego Maradona, referring to the opening 1-0 victory last Saturday in which his forwards squandered several chances. “This time it happened for us.” Higuain in particular had been under pressure in recent days, but Maradona kept the Real Madrid striker in the starting lineup. Until the 33rd minute, when his header put Argentina 2-0 up, there had been few signs of what was to come. By the end of the match, Higuain had added a tap-in and a header - in the 76th and 80th minutes - to score the first hat trick of the tournament. He's now the top scorer in South Africa. “I knew I was getting chances but I needed to convert them,” he said. “I'm very happy to score the goals, but we have to think of the team as a whole.” Tevez, whose place in the team was in doubt before the opening game, reproduced the form he regularly shows in the English Premier League, bursting past defenders, battling for every ball and energizing Argentina's attacks when South Korea was threatening to get back into the game. With Messi playing in a slightly deeper role, Argentina had initially lacked a cutting edge, its main threat coming down the left from Tevez, Angel di Maria and Gabriel Heinze. The Barcelona forward was frequently running into two or three South Koreans who were probably calculating that if you stop Messi, you stop Argentina. Messi gradually found his way, and was instrumental in Argentina's final two goals. But he didn't quite replicate the dazzling display against Nigeria. Asked how he'd developed as a coach in recent weeks, Maradona said he'd put in a lot of work. “I wanted the players to be focused, like they were today. I wanted to be able to talk to them and explain what a World Cup is all about,” he said.
