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Argentina had just beaten Switzerland in extra time, and already Albiceleste manager Lionel Scaloni was focused on his next mission: Keep the temperature down as Argentina heads into a 2026 World Cup semifinal with England.
“It’s a soccer match. The message is it’s a soccer match. We’re not looking for anything else. It’s a soccer match,” Scaloni said in his news conference after the 3-1 victory over the Swiss. "We’re going to play a game against a great national team who has a great coach that I appreciate, admire a lot. It’s a soccer match. Period. There’s no more than that."
It is wise management for Scaloni to try to keep the temperature down on a matchup that often has boiled over. It also might not be possible for him to keep a lid on things.
Already, footage has emerged of a fight between England and Argentina fans in Miami at the Three Lions' win over Norway. That certainly is not to say there will be incidents of fan violence. Cooler heads largely have prevailed this tournament, with security characteristically strong in the U.S.
Still, it is difficult to express what this match means to Argentina fans, with a number of factors converging to make the buildup to Wednesday's match one rarely experienced, even in a country that experiences soccer in as passionate a way as Argentina.
For one, the match will be the first time Lionel Messi has faced England. The 39-year-old's generation somehow has missed out on crossing paths with the Three Lions until now. The teams last met in a 2005 friendly match in Switzerland, as England won 3-2 thanks to a Michael Owen double and a goal from Wayne Rooney.
Now, Messi has his own chance to write World Cup history against England.
"Honestly, it’s special. It’s a special game because it’s my first time. I’ve played against everyone except England, and it’s special because it’s a great national team, a power," Messi said Saturday night after the win over Swizterland. "It’s always nice to play against teams like that, in this style of game, plus at a semifinal of a World Cup."
With the 2022 World Cup title, Messi ascended to the same status as Argentina legend Diego Armando Maradona, whose most famous and infamous moments came against England.
At the Estadio Azteca in 1986, Maradona scored a double to put Argentina past England, 2-1. One of the goals, everyone agrees, was one of the best goals ever scored - the goal of the century, according to an online poll FIFA conducted in 2002.
The other, almost everyone agrees, shouldn't have counted - and almost certainly wouldn't in the VAR era. Maradona finished his opener past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton with his hand - later quipping that some of the contact was from his head and the rest was from the "hand of God" - giving that goal its moniker.
Even aside from that 1986 classic, Argentina meeting England in the World Cup rarely ends up a low-key occasion.
The last meeting came in 2002 when David Beckham converted from the penalty spot. That goal was enough to push England through to a group-round win - and perhaps atone for the errors of 1998.
Four years earlier in France, Beckham was sent off for kicking out at Diego Simeone early in the second half of what had been a back-and-forth game. England was able to push the match to extra time, even seeing a potential winner disallowed, and a penalty shootout, falling 4-3 from the spot as Argentina moved into the quarterfinals.
That match seemed positively bland compared to the 1966 meeting. Expecting a referee favoring the home English team, Argentina hatched a plan to request a translator if they felt they were the victims of bias. After a first-half caution, captain Antonio Rattín began to speak with the referee. The official tried to send him off, but Rattín - who died this week at the age of 89 - indicated he didn't understand. After finally leaving the field, he sat on a carpet he believed was reserved for the queen, then tore a fan's flag on the way out.
After that game, England manager Alf Ramsey said the Argentine players were "animals." That comment and match, combined with England's win over Argentina at the 1962 World Cup, set the foundation for the bad feelings on the field, many of which still linger.
Much of the animosity, however, has little to do with soccer. The Falkland Islands - or the Malvinas by their Argentine name - is an archipelago off the coast of Argentina, but one that operates as a British Overseas Territory. With their sovereignty in dispute, and with Argentina's military dictatorship changing leadership, the junta looked to strike a decisive blow in 1982 with an invasion of the territory.
The British response was to send both naval fleets and conduct air attacks, killing more than 600 troops and eventually leading to an Argentine surrender after more than two months of undeclared conflict.
The military skirmish is one for the history books in most places in the world, but it is still felt deeply in Argentina. A number of the songs Argentina fans sing and write still reference the heroes of the Malvinas, and even when the team is not playing, there often will be a song in which fans bounce and sing, "The person who isn't jumping is English."
While the area has operated under British control since the end of the conflict, Argentina still claims the territory.
With the matchup looming, Argentine reporters looked to get context from their players about how much the conflict would be in the back of their minds when suiting up against England on the field.
"Obviously in the four lines and out it’s a matchup that has a lot of history, it has a lot of pain and a lot of things behind it," Argentina forward Jose Manuel "Flaco" Lopez said after being asked specifically about what the semifinal meant in the context of being from a city affected by the Malvinas conflict. "I think we’re professionals. We’ll play it like we play every game: Until the last section as we showed today, giving our life. Obviously, it’s a special game, a semifinal of a World Cup, a match that personally I have teammates who, since we started to kick a ball we’ve dreamed of playing it. We don’t need more motivation than that. I’m happy to make up part of this great group. It’ll be a great game."
Other players stuck more closely to the line espoused by their manager - though after telling the TV cameras immediately after the Switzerland that it would just be a game of soccer, midfielder Leandro Paredes was a bit more reflective before boarding the team bus in Kansas City.
"It’s definitely going to be very difficult. For us, it’s a dream to meet this national team," Paredes said. "We know what it means for our country, too, so we’ll prepare for it as well as possible."
Other than what Scaloni already has tried to do, to remind fans to keep things in perspective and to ask them to separate a deeply felt conflict from what will happen at Atlanta Stadium on Wednesday, that is all the Argentina national team can do - say the right thing, prepare in the right way and work to deliver a triumph that would loom large in the history of the rivalry.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Argentina manager says England semis just 'a soccer match.' History disagrees.
Continue reading...
“It’s a soccer match. The message is it’s a soccer match. We’re not looking for anything else. It’s a soccer match,” Scaloni said in his news conference after the 3-1 victory over the Swiss. "We’re going to play a game against a great national team who has a great coach that I appreciate, admire a lot. It’s a soccer match. Period. There’s no more than that."
It is wise management for Scaloni to try to keep the temperature down on a matchup that often has boiled over. It also might not be possible for him to keep a lid on things.
Already, footage has emerged of a fight between England and Argentina fans in Miami at the Three Lions' win over Norway. That certainly is not to say there will be incidents of fan violence. Cooler heads largely have prevailed this tournament, with security characteristically strong in the U.S.
Still, it is difficult to express what this match means to Argentina fans, with a number of factors converging to make the buildup to Wednesday's match one rarely experienced, even in a country that experiences soccer in as passionate a way as Argentina.
How many times has Lionel Messi played England?
For one, the match will be the first time Lionel Messi has faced England. The 39-year-old's generation somehow has missed out on crossing paths with the Three Lions until now. The teams last met in a 2005 friendly match in Switzerland, as England won 3-2 thanks to a Michael Owen double and a goal from Wayne Rooney.
Now, Messi has his own chance to write World Cup history against England.
"Honestly, it’s special. It’s a special game because it’s my first time. I’ve played against everyone except England, and it’s special because it’s a great national team, a power," Messi said Saturday night after the win over Swizterland. "It’s always nice to play against teams like that, in this style of game, plus at a semifinal of a World Cup."
With the 2022 World Cup title, Messi ascended to the same status as Argentina legend Diego Armando Maradona, whose most famous and infamous moments came against England.
What is the soccer history between England and Argentina?
At the Estadio Azteca in 1986, Maradona scored a double to put Argentina past England, 2-1. One of the goals, everyone agrees, was one of the best goals ever scored - the goal of the century, according to an online poll FIFA conducted in 2002.
The other, almost everyone agrees, shouldn't have counted - and almost certainly wouldn't in the VAR era. Maradona finished his opener past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton with his hand - later quipping that some of the contact was from his head and the rest was from the "hand of God" - giving that goal its moniker.
Even aside from that 1986 classic, Argentina meeting England in the World Cup rarely ends up a low-key occasion.
The last meeting came in 2002 when David Beckham converted from the penalty spot. That goal was enough to push England through to a group-round win - and perhaps atone for the errors of 1998.
Four years earlier in France, Beckham was sent off for kicking out at Diego Simeone early in the second half of what had been a back-and-forth game. England was able to push the match to extra time, even seeing a potential winner disallowed, and a penalty shootout, falling 4-3 from the spot as Argentina moved into the quarterfinals.
That match seemed positively bland compared to the 1966 meeting. Expecting a referee favoring the home English team, Argentina hatched a plan to request a translator if they felt they were the victims of bias. After a first-half caution, captain Antonio Rattín began to speak with the referee. The official tried to send him off, but Rattín - who died this week at the age of 89 - indicated he didn't understand. After finally leaving the field, he sat on a carpet he believed was reserved for the queen, then tore a fan's flag on the way out.
After that game, England manager Alf Ramsey said the Argentine players were "animals." That comment and match, combined with England's win over Argentina at the 1962 World Cup, set the foundation for the bad feelings on the field, many of which still linger.
What is the Falkland Islands/Malvinas conflict and how does it echo in soccer?
Much of the animosity, however, has little to do with soccer. The Falkland Islands - or the Malvinas by their Argentine name - is an archipelago off the coast of Argentina, but one that operates as a British Overseas Territory. With their sovereignty in dispute, and with Argentina's military dictatorship changing leadership, the junta looked to strike a decisive blow in 1982 with an invasion of the territory.
The British response was to send both naval fleets and conduct air attacks, killing more than 600 troops and eventually leading to an Argentine surrender after more than two months of undeclared conflict.
The military skirmish is one for the history books in most places in the world, but it is still felt deeply in Argentina. A number of the songs Argentina fans sing and write still reference the heroes of the Malvinas, and even when the team is not playing, there often will be a song in which fans bounce and sing, "The person who isn't jumping is English."
While the area has operated under British control since the end of the conflict, Argentina still claims the territory.
With the matchup looming, Argentine reporters looked to get context from their players about how much the conflict would be in the back of their minds when suiting up against England on the field.
"Obviously in the four lines and out it’s a matchup that has a lot of history, it has a lot of pain and a lot of things behind it," Argentina forward Jose Manuel "Flaco" Lopez said after being asked specifically about what the semifinal meant in the context of being from a city affected by the Malvinas conflict. "I think we’re professionals. We’ll play it like we play every game: Until the last section as we showed today, giving our life. Obviously, it’s a special game, a semifinal of a World Cup, a match that personally I have teammates who, since we started to kick a ball we’ve dreamed of playing it. We don’t need more motivation than that. I’m happy to make up part of this great group. It’ll be a great game."
Other players stuck more closely to the line espoused by their manager - though after telling the TV cameras immediately after the Switzerland that it would just be a game of soccer, midfielder Leandro Paredes was a bit more reflective before boarding the team bus in Kansas City.
"It’s definitely going to be very difficult. For us, it’s a dream to meet this national team," Paredes said. "We know what it means for our country, too, so we’ll prepare for it as well as possible."
Other than what Scaloni already has tried to do, to remind fans to keep things in perspective and to ask them to separate a deeply felt conflict from what will happen at Atlanta Stadium on Wednesday, that is all the Argentina national team can do - say the right thing, prepare in the right way and work to deliver a triumph that would loom large in the history of the rivalry.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Argentina manager says England semis just 'a soccer match.' History disagrees.
Continue reading...
