Argentina test tonight for Turgott

Whenever England face Argentina at football, it is a huge occasion.

From England's victories at the 1966 and 2002 FIFA World Cups to Diego Maradona's goals in 1986 and David Beckham's red card in 1998, matches between the two have always been tense, exciting and packed full of incident.

It will be no different when the Young Lions and La Albiceleste square off in the FIFA U17 World Cup round of 16 in the Mexican city of Pachuca this evening.

Central to England's chances will be the form of West Ham United attacking midfielder Blair Turgott, whose form has caught the eye.

In the latest of his exclusive interviews from the country's Mexican training base, Turgott spoke to whufc.com of his hopes of helping England through to the quarter-finals.

So Blair, you are through to the knockout stages after going unbeaten in the group-stage. How would you sum up your World Cup so far?

Yes we finished unbeaten in our group, which I think is really good as we have been consistent through the tournament.

We have shown everyone what we are really about and that there is more to come. At tournaments like these, it's always important not to lose and stay consistent and get better as we progress.

You scored an outstanding goal in the 2-2 group-stage draw with Canada. Has that been the highlight of your tournament so far?

My personal highlight so far was definitely my goal against Canada. Coming off the bench when it was 1-1, we always felt we could get another goal. It was funny, actually, because before I went on one of the coaches said to me 'Go and win the game for us, Blair', which I so nearly did!

It just wasn't to be when they equalised late on, but it has been good getting quite a lot of pitch time. Walking out and singing the national anthem in a World Cup is an unforgettable experience.

You have Argentina in the round of 16? How do you rate your chances against them, considering they two of their three group matches?

That's the good thing about finishing top of your group - you avoid the other stronger teams in the competition.

Argentina came third in their group, so on paper people could say we should win, but it's going to be another test that the lads are looking forward to. We will just keep doing what we are doing and performing and it should be enough.

That said, every game in a World Cup is going be a challenge.

How will you prepare for the game? Have you got video footage of Argentina's group matches?

The staff here is top-class. The video analysis of every game is available for the staff and players to watch but I'm sure, like we always do, we will study the opposition. As we get closer and closer to the fixture we will highlight their strengths and weaknesses.

In your last interview, you mentioned visiting the historic Teotihuacan ruins. Have you managed to do any more trips and sight-seeing, or has it been all work and no play?

To be honest, we have been travelling a lot this week after leaving our original base in Pachuca. We flew to Torreon for the Uruguay game and then back to Pachuca on Sunday to prepare for the Argentina game.

So, as you can imagine we have seen a lot as we have been travelling constantly. Obviously the travel takes a lot out of you so I guess the most important thing is resting up.

Hopefully we may get to see some other sights later on in the week when we progress - fingers crossed!