A Diego Maradona press conference is an event not to be missed. After Argentina had to all intents booked their place in the knockout stages with a 4-1 victory over South Korea, Maradona was in sublime form

"We've been talking to with Carlos Bilardo (the Argentine team manager and former coach) about the good vibrations we've been feeling," he sort-of grinned, in-between taking a question from a blonde in the front row who asked if he remembered her from his playing days in Naples.

At the end of a charming, vaguely shambolic 25 minutes, Maradona opened an envelope as if to read a letter. He muttered about making a public apology to "Mr Platini", Uefa president Michel Platini, who had questioned his coaching credentials. Just as we thought he was about to become all contrite and read a heartfelt apology, he merely confirmed he was apologising and shuffled off. The hacks shook their heads, bemused.

Platini has gone to the heart of the matter. Maradona gets so distracted on the touchline that he frequently behaves in a manner that "isn't appropriate", in the words of South Korea's coach, Huh Jung-Moo.

There is banter, a blurring of boundaries, behaviour from Maradona that suggests he'd rather be playing than coaching, rather be a fan than the man in the suit on the sidelines.

This said, the time is drawing closer when Maradona will have to coach. It is unlikely to happen in the immediate future because Argentina's cavalcade heads north to Polokwane for Tuesday's date with Greece.

But soon Argentina could play Uruguay or Mexico, and then Maradona will have to face a looming wall of hard questions.

Is Jonas Gutierrez the best Argentina have to offer at right back? Are they better with or without Juan Veron keeping them ticking over in the centre of the pitch? Will Veron be fit? Was Martin Demichelis's gifting of a goal to the South Koreans an aberration or a symptom of a deeper defensive malaise?

More pertinently, will Maradona's slash-and-burn football, with his three up front and only three in midfield, survive against more gifted teams than South Korea and Nigeria?

You could argue that as long as Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi are bewitching defences and as long as Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain is finding the net, it doesn't really matter. But there will come a time when it does.

Maradona will either have to coach or the team will have to break free of his influence, leaving him time and space to indulge himself on the side of the pitch while they do battle on it. For all the early infatuation with Argentina and Germany, it has been interesting to see how other teams have coped with playing the Albiceleste.

When Obafemi Martins and Peter Odemwingie ran at Gutierrez on Saturday, they caused a ripple of fear among the Argentine back four. Marseille's Gabriel Heinze looks a better bet at left back but he likes the opportunities provided by set-pieces upfield. He can get caught and the Argentine midfield can get over-run.

How will they respond to going an early goal down or even conceding two?

Against South Korea on Thursday, it was noticeable that in the second half Messi was pushed further and further back in search of the ball. The victory was no more than a moral one for the Koreans, who lost 4-1, but in forcing Messi back they limited his effectiveness.

The knockout rounds often amount to no more than a prolonged series of blocking moves; a blocked side is a frustrated side, particularly if they place the premium on scoring that the Argentines do.

Mexico and Uruguay, Argentina's most likely opponents in the second round, know Argentina better than most, particularly the Uruguayans, although Maradona didn't appear to be remotely bothered.

"We don't want to think too much about possible teams and possible opponents we could meet later in the competition," he said blithely, adding to the impression that he was winging it for as long as he could.

For all of Maradona's summer of love bombast - "... what we're living through now is very beautiful", he said on Thursday - he shouldn't be dismissed as this World Cup's cartoon.

He seems to be good at keeping his team happy, an emotional victory that hasn't been secured by, say, Raymond Domenech, France's coach.

After the South Korea win he spoke of his "sensational team" and there is a very real sense in which you believe him.

What's interesting for neutrals is that there's a space between a sensational team and a successful one. That space might be difficult to see now, but as the microscope narrows to the last 16 and the last eight, so the space between sensational and successful becomes bigger.

Only then we will see whether Maradona's Argentina are ready to embark on their crazy winter of love.