Diego Maradona has set Argentina a Rugby World Cup semifinal target -- telling the starstruck Pumas that he will be there to cheer them if they reach the last four.

Football icon Maradona was a passionate presence at the Leicester City Stadium as Argentina overcame a spirited Tonga, securing a 45-16 win that leaves them needing just a solitary point to reach the quarterfinals. But visiting the dressing room following the victory, Maradona challenged his compatriots to go at least one step further as he joined in the celebrations, singing and swapping shirts with the squad.

"Maradona said he'll come back if we reach the semifinal," fullback Joaquin Tuculet told ESPN.

"That was fantastic, I love football, I love soccer, I love him. That situation was great. I think it's very important for us, Maradona is the best player in the world -- for me it's something unexplainable."

Diego Maradona hugs Agustin Creevy © Richard Heathcote / World Rugby via Getty Images

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It was fitting that on the day Maradona paid the team a visit that fly-half Nicolas Sanchez, wearing the great man's famous No.10 on his back, was named man of the match.

Sanchez ended the game with 25 points and described meeting his hero -- who took his shirt -- as "important" and "something very nice".

El Diego's surprise appearance was also a massive moment for Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, a 67-Test veteran of three World Cups who was nothing more than a Boca Juniors fan in the presence of his idol.

"He came into the dressing room and he has that aura around him, he's just a legend," Fernandez Lobbe said, echoing what must be the thoughts of many Toulon and Sale fans on meeting him.

Argentina football legend Diego Maradona celebrates a try © Getty Images

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"[He told us] we need to realise that we're giving a lot of happiness to a lot of people, try to keep on being humble and giving everything. I think that's why the people like us because we just put everything on the line."

It is difficult to put into context exactly what Maradona means to his countrymen. There was a mad scramble to get his picture from thousands in blue and white as he made his way to his seat before kick off, while the impact his appearance in the dressing room had on the players was fully evident.

Argentina have issues to work on despite a five-try victory, though, and Tuculet for one is not taking a last four spot for granted. He said: "We have a quarterfinal, we have next week Namibia so we have to think about this game it will be very hard so I'm not thinking about the semifinal."