Argentina defender Martin Demichelis has hit out at the critics who wrote off his team's chances of winning the World Cup.

After scraping through qualifying in their final game, few thought Diego Maradona's erratic style of management would bring Argentina any success in South Africa. But as the tournament gets closer, suddenly the sheer depth in quality at Maradona's disposal is starting to become obvious.

"This team has grown in the last few months. Most of the criticisms levelled against us in the first place were really unfair anyway," said Demichelis.