Los Angeles: England and Argentina will meet on Wednesday in a blockbuster World Cup semi-final infused with decades of bitter rivalry after they battled past Norway and Switzerland respectively in the quarter-finals.
The South Americans and their talisman Lionel Messi must defeat England in Atlanta to keep alive their hopes of becoming the first team to win back-to-back World Cups since Brazil in 1962.
England and their key partnership of Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane must win to have any hope of ending a 60-year wait for a major trophy.The winner of that game will take on the victor of France´s semi-final with Spain -- they meet in Texas on Tuesday -- in the final on July 19.
The Argentina v England match comes 40 years after a seismic encounter in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.Argentina secured a 2-1 victory at the Estadio Azteca with two goals from Diego Maradona -- one the infamous “Hand of God” when he punched the ball into the net and the other a dazzling solo effort considered one of the greatest goals ever to grace a World Cup.
For Maradona´s heir, Messi, it will be his 206th match in an Albiceleste shirt, but his first ever against England.The match will also take place against the backdrop of a lingering sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, known in Spanish as the Malvinas.
Britain sent a military taskforce in 1982 to reclaim the islands after Argentine troops invaded.After Argentina beat a dogged Swiss side 3-1 in Kansas City on Saturday thanks to extra-time goals from Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez, their coach Lionel Scaloni attempted to take the political heat out of the meeting with England.
“The message is this is a football game. That´s what I can say,” Scaloni said.“It is a football game and we will be playing against a very tough opponent. They have an excellent coach and this is a football game and that´s all.”
That coach, Thomas Tuchel, was angry with his England team after they needed extra-time on Saturday to end Norway´s historic run in sweltering Miami. Two goals from Jude Bellingham gave England a nervy 2-1 victory to send them into the semi-finals for only the fourth time in history.Tuchel said his team would need to make a noticeable improvement if they were to have any chance of reaching the final.
