ATLANTA (AP) — England and Argentina will resume one of the fiercest rivalries in international soccer. world cup Wednesday’s semifinals.
both teams meet in atlanta The winner will then face Spain in the final on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
England manager Thomas Tuchel said: “These two jerseys are truly symbolic, and so is this historic match.”
fierce rivalry
Competition between countries at the World Cup dates back to 1962, but the competition intensified four years later when England won 1-0 in the quarter-finals. Argentina national team captain Antonio Rattin The death was announced on Saturday.got sent off for a bad game. England won the World Cup for the first time and still only.
After 20 years in Mexico, Diego Maradona The infamous “Hand of God” goal This gave Argentina a 2-1 victory in the quarterfinals, making them world champions for the second time.
In this match, Maradona dribbled the ball from the halfway line, beating England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and scoring what many believe to be the greatest goal in World Cup history.
“It will stay in our hearts forever. It was a really beautiful goal,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “Anyone who loves football will remember that in the best way.”
England suffered again in 1998 when David Beckham was sent off for kicking out Argentina midfielder Diego Simeone, and they lost on penalties in the Round of 16.
Beckham got his revenge four years later by converting a penalty in a 1-0 win and helping Argentina get eliminated in the group stage.
Given the intense rivalry, Tuchel has tried to control his players’ emotions ahead of the semi-finals.
“When you have so many iconic moments in a game, you can’t simply say it’s just a football game, but as coaches that’s exactly what we’re doing,” he said. “We don’t talk about historical events. We don’t talk about iconic moments.”
Route to the semi-finals
It was not smooth sailing for either team to advance to the semi-finals.
Argentina overcame early scares against Cape Verde and Egypt, but needed extra time to defeat 10-a-side Switzerland 3-1 in the quarter-finals.
England needed to bounce back for victory after being conceded goals against Congo and Norway. They also withstood a physically draining match, played at high altitude and reduced to 10 players, to defeat co-host Mexico 3-2 in the Round of 16.
Messi vs Kane & Bellingham
The seemingly ageless Lionel Messi once again became Argentina’s talisman, scoring eight goals and also providing a crucial assist.
England have relied on hard-hitting players Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham. Both have scored six goals so far, with Bellingham scoring twice in each of England’s last two games.
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James Robson is https://x.com/James Saran Robson
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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
