This is how much it means to beat Argentina – I once out-jumped Peter Crouch to head a last-minute winner against them! Trust me, the feeling of scoring a goal in a friendly has never been so good.
By then, on a November night in Geneva in 2005, I understood exactly what the rivalry was about. When I scored the goal against Argentina that came to define my career, seven years earlier at the 1998 World Cup, I’d heard about the Falklands War and I was well aware of Diego Maradona’s Hand of God. But I was just an 18-year-old running by defenders and sticking the ball in the net. That’s what I did, playground stuff. I probably didn’t appreciate the battlefield it was.
But what stands out now, 28 years on, is something from off the pitch as much as on it. The memory captures how much it meant to Argentina, and how much it would come to mean to us. It is why I was climbing above Crouchie all those years later!
We were on the team bus after the game and were underneath the stadium in Saint-Etienne. We’d lost on penalties in the last 16. The bus was quiet and we were all feeling pretty sorry for ourselves. My own emotions were all over the place. I was a teenager who had just scored the goal of my dreams and I’d scored in the shootout, but we were going home. David Beckham had been sent off. He was obviously devastated and no doubt worried about all that was to come. There was silence and dejection, a feeling of what might have been. We should have won that night.
We looked out of the window and the Argentina bus was parked in the bay next to us. Their players were just getting on and the party soon started. The music was blasting and, literally, the bus was shaking. Javier Zanetti. Diego Simeone. Gabriel Batistuta. They were banging on the windows and loving every minute of it.
But I’ll never forget Alan Shearer walking on our bus. He stopped and pointed to the Argentina bus. He stood there and at the top of his voice told us: ‘Some of you will be lucky enough to play that mob again. Just remember this, remember this moment.’
In 1998, I had heard about the England-Argentina rivalry, but I was just an 18-year-old running by defenders
I probably didn’t appreciate the battlefield it was – and what stands now is something from off the pitch as much as on it
He was right. Four years later, in Japan, we didn’t forget. Myself, Becks, Paul Scholes and Sol Campbell were the lucky ones. It was a group match this time, but did that make it any less of a contest? Absolutely not. We had our own history now. Forget wars or Maradona and 1986, this was personal. Maybe that was part of the motivation in doing what I did just before half-time.
The game was goalless when I was making my way into the penalty area and dribbled by Mauricio Pochettino. He stuck out a leg and I went over. Let’s be clear, he didn’t get the ball, but he did clip me. Was it enough to go down? No. But did I dive? No, a dive is a blatant attempt to deceive. I’d prefer to phrase it as accepting the invitation.
The challenge actually drew blood on my leg, and not a lot of people know that. So there was contact, 100 per cent. It was mistimed. It was clumsy. But listen, full disclosure here, we are professional athletes, we are strong and athletic. Could I have ridden it and stayed on my feet? Of course I could. But why should I? He’d made a mistake and committed a foul. If every striker stayed on their feet when they’ve been caught by a defender – as the majority probably could – we’d only have a handful of penalties every season.
My trickery won us a penalty. And it was Argentina. And it was a World Cup. And yes, I had 1998 in my mind somewhere. It depends which side of the fence you sit on. I was on the English side, doing what I had to for our country against players from a country who would have done exactly the same. Becks kicking out at Diego Simeone in Saint-Etienne was a prime example. I wish David hadn’t had done what he did, because it cost us. But Simeone went down when he could have easily stayed up. In the end, that was the difference between them going through and us going out.
Becks scored that penalty which I won in 2002 and that was his own redemption arc. For the rest of us, it was retribution. We won 1-0 and Argentina went home early. It’s just a shame our bus wasn’t parked next to theirs after the game!
It was funny – at least for me – because years later I went into Tottenham when Pochettino was manager. I was doing an interview with him for TV, but first he took me into his office. Harry Kane was going through a sticky patch and Pochettino showed me some clips and he wanted my opinion. It was a brilliant day. He took me into the inner sanctum and I met all of his staff.
But then it came to the interview and I mentioned the penalty. I thought we’d have a joke about it. He didn’t. He really didn’t find it funny at all. No smiles. It was a very short answer and on we went. It brought home how differently these moments and matches are perceived depending on which side you are on. The Hand of God is a moment of regret, anger and injustice for us. For them, it’s cunning genius. The 2002 penalty is similar in some ways.
Come 2005, the friendly against them felt like a settler – we were level after 1998 and 2002! I say friendly, it was anything but. Both sides wanted to win so badly, and that is why it produced the fantastic game that played out. The best non-competitive fixture I’ve ever played in, easily.
I won a penalty via Mauricio Pochettino four years later – and he doesn’t see the funny side of things to this day
We had the last laugh in 2005 – now it’s time for the current generation to make history
We were losing 2-1 with five minutes to go. Phil Neville crossed to the far post and I got in around the back and headed in. Then, in the 91st minute, Joe Cole hung up a delivery and I got across Crouchie to head the winner. Go back and watch our celebration. Watch our bench empty. Watch the fans in the stands. It’s bedlam, you’d think it was a World Cup knockout.
We won 3-2 and after three matches against Argentina, that was victory in the mini series. England have not played them since. Now, this is the turn of the current generation to make their own history in Atlanta this evening.
But I will say this, because of the passage of time, I think the likes of Kane and Jude Bellingham will go into the game with same mindset as I did in ’98, unaffected by any talk of the Falklands or Maradona. This is too big to worry about any of that, especially as many of them weren’t even born when I scored that goal, let alone be aware of any of the other stuff.
There is already enough motivation. You are one game from a World Cup final. So much emotion has built through this tournament by the nature of how we have won matches. There will be no need or want to fuel it any further by events they have nothing to do with. This is about the here and now.
Remembering the Argentina rivalry has been fun this week, and it’s very real, never doubt that. But for these boys now it’s about shaping the future, not correcting the past.
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