England are scheduled to play Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday. (Image: Getty)
Tensions are high ahead of the World Cup semi-final between England and Argentina, and international athletes are no exception. As manager Thomas Tuchel and his players prepare to take on the likes of Lionel Messi in Atlanta, members of England’s rugby team have been instructed to avoid wearing clothing with the national team badge on them when out and about.
Despite Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni dispelling concerns in that regard, there are logical reasons behind the decision and have nothing to do with tensions in the Falklands. The rugby team is currently in Argentina preparing for Saturday’s match against Pumas. The Telegraph reported that head coach Steve Borthwick had changed his players’ training schedule to allow them to watch Wednesday’s semi-final from the team hotel. However, it is believed that wearing England colors in public in the run-up to the match is a step too far, although the safety concerns are not deemed serious enough to warrant additional protection.
“I think we were pretty smart keeping in mind where we were and who we were playing and trying not to wear too many England shirts,” England lock Alex Coles said. “We had them all play against each other in Liverpool and we got a slightly better response than we did here.”
Coles also reflected on his past meetings with Tuchel and the hard work he instilled in his players en route to Wednesday’s semi-final. “He’s a realist, but he’s also very good at motivating players,” added the 26-year-old.
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“And I think you can see how hard everyone is working. And he’s picked players who want to work for the team. I mean, I’m very impressed. Like Elliott Anderson, who has his socks off the whole game. Declan Rice has pushed himself through injury and illness.”
“I think there’s a lot to admire in that trait. And as an Englishman, you’d like to think that’s part of our national psyche, and that kind of hard work and that determination and obviously the quality of (Jude) Bellingham and (Harry) Kane, who were just there to get to the top, and (Bukayo) Saka as well, as an Arsenal fan, I want to give him a shout out.”
Alex Coles talks about the impact the England football team has had (Image: Getty)
England and Argentina have not faced each other on a football pitch for over 20 years. Michael Owen scored the winning goal late on in a friendly in 2005, but their last encounter was at the 2002 World Cup, which was decided by David Beckham’s penalty.
The two countries recently faced each other at the Rugby World Cup. The two sides met twice in the most recent tournament in 2023, with England winning 27-10 in the pool stage and narrowly defeating South America in the third-place match.
In preparation for Wednesday’s game, Scaloni played against the backdrop of the Falkland Islands. “The reality is this is a football game. You can’t mix things up, especially out of respect for what happened all those years ago,” he said.
“It was a very sad period in our history. There’s not much we can do about it. That’s the reality. It’s a football game. There’s no getting around that.
“For me to start saying this is more than a football game when things are happening in other parts of the world and we are criticizing the existence of war…it seems crazy to me. Of course we remember those people, but this is a football game and we shouldn’t confuse the two.”
