Online Reporter
ARGENTINA coach Lionel Scaloni insisted Wednesday’s heavyweight FIFA World Cup semi-final against England was “just a football game” after his side beat Switzerland 3-1 in the last eight.
Alexis Mac Allister put the defending champions ahead early in Kansas City on Saturday night, but Dan Ndoye scored a deserved equaliser midway through the second-half. Disaster struck minutes later for Switzerland when Breel Embolo was shown a second yellow card for simulation, reducing them to 10 men.
Julian Alvarez broke Swiss hearts in the 112th minute before substitute Lautaro Martinez added a last-gasp third.
Argentina now turn their attention to the semi-final in Atlanta, which promises to be a tense encounter. The history of matches between England and Argentina is peppered with flashpoints on the pitch, set against a lingering sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands, known in Spanish as the Malvinas, in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Britain sent a military task force in 1982 to reclaim the islands after Argentine troops invaded. But Scaloni sought to put politics aside after Argentina’s victory at the Arrowhead Stadium. “Look, this is a football game,” he said. “OK, so the message is this is a football game. That’s what I can say.
“It is a football game and we will be playing against a very tough opponent. They have an excellent coach and this is a football game and that’s all.”
The game against England comes 40 years after a seismic encounter in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Argentina secured a 2-1 victory at the Estadio Azteca with two goals from Diego Maradona — one the infamous “Hand of God” goal and the other a dazzling solo effort considered one of the best ever. — AFP Sport.
