Anyone wearing a No10 jersey in Maradona's home town is guaranteed to catch the eye of the portenos, as inhabitants of Argentina's capital city are known. Clive Woodward, though, has another No10 in mind, his young fly-half Charlie Hodgson, because tomorrow's Test against the Pumas will kick-start a crucial phase in England's planning for next year's World Cup.
What the manager is aiming for by October 2003 is a 30-man squad without any weak links. To achieve that he intends to use this autumn's Tests against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa to clarify the last 12 or so players, those who are not yet certainties. It means that the likes of Martin Johnson and Neil Back will not necessarily be involved and that the 21-year-old Hodgson may play at No10 - with Jonny Wilkinson at inside-centre.
Woodward enjoys stirring the pot and he has been doing just that in Argentina. "Everyone's saying Charlie is understudy to Jonny but I'm not absolutely convinced about that. You never know about a player until you see him in a true Test environment, but we know Wilkinson can play in the centre. There are lots of possibilities. It's almost worth the trip alone."
Woodward will have won twofold if Hodgson does shine at the Velez Sarsfield stadium. First he will have found a talented fly-half should Wilkinson be hurt, and second he will have sent a message that no established player can take anything for granted.
Thus the vastly experienced Jason Leonard and Back will be required to play out of their skins this autumn and the battle for places at hooker, scrum-half and outside-centre will be intense. And maybe, just maybe, Hodgson will add something to England's sophisticated mix.
Like Wilkinson he has exceptional distribution skills, like Wilkinson he can kick goals with his eyes shut. But unlike the big-hitting Wilkinson he is unlikely to be found at the bottom of rucks when his team need their playmaker to be plotting the next move.
In last season's Zurich Premiership the Sale man not only scored seven tries - second among the league's fly-halves - but was responsible for more try-scoring assists than any other player and broke 45 attempted tackles. He is a gamebreaker who galvanises those around him, making him the answer to any coach's prayers.
Even his defence, once a perceived weakness, has improved dramatically since he put on half a stone of muscle. An English record of 44 points on his Test debut against Romania convinced him he could prosper at the top, but he is modest enough to credit the service of Sale's scrum-half Bryan Redpath as a factor in his rise.
This week he has been similarly diplomatic, but his quiet hunger was obvious before the trip. "I could easily look at Jonny in the No10 shirt in a negative sense but it just makes me more determined. Now I've had a taste I want more." Publicly Hodgson says he cannot envisage pushing Wilkinson to centre "for some time" but, with England staying in a city that boasts more psychoanalysts per capita than anywhere else, this is a time of contemplation for more than one of Woodward's regulars.
With 16 months to go to the World Cup it is time for players such as Hodgson to make their move. After Maradona's infamous goal against England in 1986, will Argentina be outwitted by the hands of Hod?
· Argentina have had to reorganise after the captain Lisandro Arbizu was ruled out with a rib injury. Gonzalo Quesada has switched to fly-half and Felipe Contepomi is at centre.
· Sky Sports One, 7pm tomorrow
