Ismail Elfas will play in midfield for England against Argentina, but there are doubts about whether he can withstand the pressure of a World Cup semi-final.
Ismail Elfus advances to World Cup semi-finals
Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has admitted that he would have chosen a more experienced referee for Wednesday night’s semi-final between England and Argentina, with a place in the World Cup final at stake.
Ismail Elfus has been tipped to play in Atalanta, making it the first time the rivals have faced each other in a major tournament since the 2002 World Cup, when David Beckham scored the winning goal.
Matches between the two countries are often bitter and regularly spark controversy. Beckham was sent off at the 1998 World Cup for violating Argentina’s dark arts.
With that in mind, Halsey admitted that he was “surprised by the appointment of Ismail Elfas,” although there were no major flashpoints in any of the three World Cup matches he has been in charge of.
He wrote in The Sun: “Given the circumstances of the match, the prize money at stake, the showdown between two of football’s greatest powers, and the history of the game, I think it would have been better to have a top European manager in charge.
“Most of the English and Argentine players play in Europe, so we wanted a referee who knows them inside out and who regularly referees in the business end of the Champions League and Europa League.
“Elfas is an MLS referee and only knows Inter Miami pair Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul, so he will need to quickly keep both teams in check.”
The match between Argentina and England at the World Cup is often decided by big decisions (Image: PA)
Halsey insisted he had “never faced pressure like this before”, while England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was confident the Three Lions would focus on their football and not get caught up in the tricky aspects of the game.
“I think you could see throughout the tournament that we wanted to win tackles, but there were no scuffles or anything like that,” he said.
“We’ve been very respectful in the game. Decisions go our way, decisions don’t go our way. We just reset and start again and let the football do its thing. I think that’s what we’ve done throughout the tournament.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Upgrade your World Cup TV setup with Sky Glass ‘designed for soccer’
From £6
sky
Get the deal here
Shoppers can now upgrade to a Sky smart TV ‘designed for football’ from £6 a month when used with a Sky TV and Netflix package.
