The point is whether we should look beyond an almost forgotten war, which only resurfaces with a vengeance when England is faced with Argentina in football.
The Falklands War, fought in April 1982, will forever underpin any encounter between these two nations.
The famous or many call it infamous, ‘Hand of God’ goal by Maradona against England at the 1986 World Cup came when tensions of the Falklands conflict still hung heavily on both nations.
Four years earlier, in 1982, Britian launched a massive task force towards the islands in the South Pacific when they were suddenly occupied by Argentina.
In the ten-week war that followed, Britian emerged victorious and thus the relation between the two nations became forever entangled by the brief conflict.
When the two footballing sides faced each other in 1986, the history of 1982 was never far behind with football pundits stoking the tensions with their colourful and, at times, provocative use of language.
On the field, the belligerence was palpable. Maradona’s encouragement of his team-mates looked more like a battle cry.
Well, the rest we know.
England got back the islands; Argentina won the war on the football pitch.
Ignominious is the word many English supporters use to refer to that ‘Hand of God’ goal, but no one ever asks if that goal had been scored by England, then would the English players have admitted it was a hand thrusted score?
Interestingly, there wasn’t too much of an outcry in Dhaka after the match in 1986. Photography was not advanced and the grainy images left space for doubt. The ultimate realisation: football has and always will be a game of paradoxes.
We say, let the best team win but what do we mean by it?
The team which employs the most cunning and often Machiavellian strategies often come on top. It’s not just skills and prowess, but also subtle deception and ruse.
Or shall we say, Ruse de Guerre (trick of war)!
In 1986, if Argentina had not won, England, powered by Gary Linekar, could have gone to the final. That England side had the capability to win the trophy. But destiny had planned otherwise.
Forty years later, the world now has a new line of supporters who were not even born in 1986.
They are not familiar with the emptions attached to the Falklands War and will find difficulty relating to the intense impact the war had on successive England-Argentina matches.
The issue saw a resurrection in 1998 World Cup in which Argentina won at penalties, and in 2002, the Three Lions went back home, courtesy a David Beckham penalty, with the Union Jack flying high.
Whether the current English players heard of the Falklands War or not, England is desperate to reach the finals for the first time in sixty years.
In 1966, when the Three Lions went to the final, the world was a different place: many countries did not exist, it was normal for footballers to smoke, travelling overseas by ship was a regular feature and footballers did not make an astronomical amount of money.
Argentina on the other hand will be determined to follow their goal: win a back-to-back trophy. In 1982, the main Argentine weapon was Exocet missiles against Britian’s Rapier.
This time, it will be Messi versus Bellingham. A football clash made in heaven indeed!
Let’s wait to see who the residents in Mount Olympus are favouring.
