History stamped by the foot of Becks

As a BBC correspondent famously observed during another grave conflict with Argentina: "I counted them out and I counted them back in." On a night when England succeeded in a mission that many considered utterly beyond them, that phrase came to mind as Sven Goran Eriksson's team strutted off victorious, vigorously applauding the crowd in that great aircraft hangar of a stadium at Sapporo.

Unlike five days earlier, against Sweden, every one of them returned with his reputation unscathed, and in the cases of several – namely Rio Ferdinand, Nicky Butt, Trevor Sinclair and Danny Mills – his stature in England's squad considerably enhanced.

And as for David Beckham, finally, thankfully, the past can be put to bed, 1998 and all that. "I said before that this game meant so much to me, and my family and the whole nation," the England captain said, having brutally dispatched the decisive spot-kick after Michael Owen had profited from a naïve challenge by Mauricio Pochettino to win one of those penalties that can convince the most experienced of officials, even Pierluigi Collina, of its authenticity.

"As a footballing nation, we've been waiting for that result for a long time," he said. "It's just nice it's come in the World Cup finals. I'd say it definitely beats the Germany result. There's massive history behind that game, but there also is between England and Argentina. It's great to finally get the win."

As much as you might prefer it didn't, political as well as footballing history between the two sides inevitably added an abrasive edge to a game in which the emotions were raw from the beginning. Afterwards there was barely suppresed euphoria among players and officials, including the FA chief executive Adam Crozier, who was primarily responsible for hiring Eriksson and who has now seen the Swede orchestrate victories against two of England's most avowed opponents, one in World Cup qualifying, now this in the tournament itself.

"Absolutely magnificent," Crozier enthused. "But then I really thought we were going to beat them. I don't know why. The whole team was magnificent. And the support was just astonishing. The way they play as a team, every time Argentina got the ball everyone got behind it. But a good sign was how disappointed our players were in themselves after Sweden and how focused they were on getting it right. They are a young team that are growing in confidence all the time." Such was Sinclair's elation afterwards that he somehow managed to walk on to the wrong team coach afterwards, Argentina's. "I was only there for a split second and I tried my hardest not to hang about too long," he explained. "But they looked very glum."

In one of those perverse twists of fate, if it had not been for the late call to join the squad, he would have been in Memphis, awaiting the Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson showdown. No doubt enjoying the experience, but in the home of Elvis Presley, possibly staying at a heartbreak hotel. "On the Thursday when the squad was first announced and I wasn't in it I started arranging some tickets for the fight," he said. "I wanted to get away from it, and I enjoy a bit of boxing. I don't think Lennox would agree, but last night was much bigger."

Originally a stand-in, his opportunity appeared curtailed when Kieron Dyer declared his fitness. But then he was called back again when Danny Murphy broke a metatarsal bone in training. "That period really tested my character," Sinclair said, "especially as my wife, Natalie, who's pregnant, was ill. When I did get called back it was in the 23-man squad and a big weight off my shoulders."

Nevertheless, the West Ham midfielder can hardly have expected to have played a prominent part in one of his country's most climactic occasions. Eriksson had played an experimental hand with a central midfield of Owen Hargreaves and Nicky Butt, and Paul Scholes on the left, but we scarcely had time to examine its effectiveness before Hargreaves hobbled off. Sinclair was sent on to take up his preferred left-flank role, with Scholes reverting to the centre.

Though it was a formation created to some extent by default, this Manchester United-dominated midfield served to frustrate Marcelo Bielsa's side, who possibly contributed to their own downfall by destroying the early rhythm they had seemingly settled into with a series of unnecessarily vindictive challenges. As Beckham remarked: "Beforehand we all warned each other that it was going to be hostile out there. There would be all sorts of different things going on."

Increasingly, Scholes and Butt negated the potency of Juan Veron and Ariel Ortega, who too frequently tended to replicate each other, though neither Sol Campbell nor Rio Ferdinand could afford to take their eyes off Gabriel Batistuta. But it was at the other end that the defence were more frequently in disarray. The man to whom England were indebted for instilling a sense of disharmony in the Argentinian back line with his fiendishly wicked runs directly into their heart was Owen, just as he had four years previously at St-Etienne. Argentina were almost cavalier in their lack of caution. The Liverpool man never looks anything like the player he can be when surrounded by a phalanx of defenders, as Sweden demonstrated. And Butt, in particular, displaying the creative impulses that we do not always observe from him at Old Trafford, picked Owen out continuously with astute balls to his dancing feet.

One of the best of the match was the raking pass which Owen controlled before driving it through the legs of Roma's Walter Samuel against a post. Then the penalty, which one must admit into the Owen academy of dramatic art. "Clever", he describes the gaining of such awards, and though there was some element of contact the defender appeared to be attempting to remove the offending leg.

Beckham should care about such niceties. He put away the kick with the venom of a man given licence to exact retribution against a sworn enemy. "I took deep breaths before I took the penalty," he recalled. "I had to. At one point I nearly stopped breathing." He was asked what went through his mind. "Probably different flashbacks from four years ago, especially when the ball went in the net."

The second half was all about disciplined retreat as the substitute Pablo Aimar harnessed attacking forces that had been beyond the replaced Veron. England maintained their shape, which became 5-5-0at times after Owen departed to be replaced by Wayne Bridge, as such, with the defence alert and brave. Ferdinand led the way with a consummate exhibition of defending, but Mills, a man who tends to commit himself but is also swift to correct his errors, performed above himself as he augmented the central defensive pairing.

"You have to defend well against Argentina," said Eriksson. "If they have space and time, they will put the ball behind you every time." The coach was asked about his apparent lack of concern in the closing moments. "I can tell you, I was not calm at all in the last 10 minutes, even if it seemed like that. You can't be if balls are coming from everywhere and your team are getting tired."

England tried to work the ball out wide to relieve the pressure, through Bridge and Sinclair, who gave his marker, Javier Zanetti, no respite. "Zanetti is regarded as one of the best players in the world," said Sinclair. "So I thought: 'If I don't try to put him on the back foot, he'll do it to me.' So I got in first."

So, enter Nigeria, who may just provide a sterner examination. England, once again under Eriksson, have demonstrated they can swim with the sharks. Now they have to demonstrate they can live with the little fishes, especially the exotic breeds. They can have vicious little teeth.