Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni insisted his team’s World Cup semi-final against England should remain “just a football match” despite the rivalry’s long political and sporting history.
Argentina booked Wednesday’s last-four meeting in Atlanta after beating Switzerland 3-1 after extra time. England reached the semi-finals with a 2-1 victory over Norway.
Scaloni urged everyone to focus on the football rather than past events between the two nations.
“It’s a soccer match. Period. There’s nothing more to it.”
“Let’s not look for anything else. It’s a soccer match. We’re going to play a soccer match against a great national team that has a great coach whom I appreciate and admire a lot.”
The fixture carries decades of history. England beat Argentina at the 1966 World Cup before Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal helped Argentina win their 1986 quarter-final. Argentina also progressed on penalties in 1998, while David Beckham’s winner gave England a 1-0 victory in the 2002 group stage.
The rivalry also extends beyond football. The Falklands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas, remain a sensitive issue more than four decades after the 1982 conflict.
Argentina forward Jose Manuel Lopez admitted the occasion carried emotional weight but said the squad would approach it like any other match.
“Obviously, outside the four lines of the pitch, it’s a matchup that has a lot of history, a lot of pain, and a lot behind it.”
“But we’re professionals. We’re going to play it the way we play every match, until the very last second, as we showed tonight, leaving everything out there.”
“It’s a World Cup semi-final, a game that I think all of my teammates have dreamed of playing since we first started kicking a ball. We don’t need any more motivation than that.”
