At the gallery, during the match between England and Argentina, several English supporters were dressed as knights of the crusades, with chainmail and helmet.
They were invoking the spirit of Richard the Lionheart, who fought the Crusades in the 12th century. The expectation was clear: see the English lions thwart the Albiceleste.
As the night progressed, the plan was moving like clockwork: the game was in its 80th minute, with a little more than ten minutes left, England seemed to be cruising to the final after a sixty year wait.
But then came the tempest, the storm by the Argentina side which had spoiled plans of opponents in the past. Very few sides can withstand that onslaught and the English fort crumbled.
Those who saw the match between Argentina and England will admit that the Latino boys gave the death bite in the end.
Argentina played like a cohesive unit: fast, focused and almost infallible, although in the first half, both sides looked a little edgy. The mood on the field was not that of bonhomie!
The impact of the rather fraught relation between the two sides was quite evident as players on both teams sported a serious look.
And why not: it’s a game to go to the final!
England deserve kudos for drawing first blood and the ball was nicked to the corner by Anthony Gordon.
But as we have seen several times before, conceding a goal only fires up Argentina because after going down, they come out of their shells and go at the opponent with all guns blazing.
Under such pressure, either the other side will concede, or they will make a blunder, remarked Mazhar Mithun, a sport vlogger and a senior journalist.
At one point, the game was being played just outside the England box, all the King’s ‘beleaguered’ men giving their best to repel the dogged Argentine predators.
The lessons from the match: if you score against Argentina, be prepared for a biblical offensive. This is a rather new strategy that Argentina is following – going at the opponent with all guns blazing.
Honestly speaking, if England had managed, by some twist of fate, to move on to the final, it would been a sporting aberration. They played eye catching football throughout the tournament but in the semi-final, they were clearly second best.
The Latin rhapsody dismantled the English spell. And what about the shadow of the Falklands?
Aha, well, forty years ago, Maradona and company gave the answer with the help of a little subterfuge but this time, Lionel Messi and the lads decided to go for clean cut footballing prowess.
St. George was nearly there but Zeus had planned it otherwise.
As BBC repots, on the night before and during the match, 14 million pints of beer were sold, providing a much-needed boost to the struggling and ailing pubs across the British Isles. They can take solace from the fact that while the team lost, the landlords of pubs made a profit.
For the Three Lions, the wait continues with shattered dreams.
Some-day, they will make it but for the time being, here’s a line of commiseration from Shakespeare’s Othello: How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?”
