The Argentinian press is accusing England of showing their national team ‘no respect’ after Ian Wright insisted he doesn’t fear Lionel Messi and Co ahead of Wednesday night’s World Cup semi-final.
The Three Lions will face Argentina for the first time in 21 years when the two teams line up in Atlanta for a place in Sunday’s final against either Spain or France.
It will mark the second time in three World Cups that England have reached the semi-final stage and, after Saturday evening’s scalp of Norway, Thomas Tuchel’s men have been backed to knock out the reigning champions.
Joe Cole claimed that England’s defence will put the tournament’s joint top-scorer Messi to ‘sleep’, while Ian Wright insisted that he ‘doesn’t fear’ Argentina.
Such confidence has, however, sparked fury in Buenos Aires, where the Argentinian media has this morning accused the English press of ‘downplaying’ Lionel Scaloni’s side.
The front page of Ole, a publication based in the country’s capital, read: ‘England is downplaying us – respect the pecking order.
England have been accused of not showing Argentina any ‘respect’ ahead of Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final
The front page of Buenos Aires-based publcation Ole read: ‘England is downplaying us – respect the pecking order’
‘There is a sense of triumphalism among the English press and former players, who downplay the Argentinian powerhouse, all while their star Bellingham and manager Tuchel are feuding in public.’
Argentina have, indeed, lifted the World Cup three times since the Three Lions last triumphed some 60 years ago – and have twice knocked England out.
In a quarter-final which has become infamous for Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’, the ex-Barcelona star fired his country to a 2-1 victory at the Azteca Stadium 40 years ago, while in 1998 England suffered heartbreak on penalties against the Argentinians in St Etienne.
Yet, speaking on Stick to Football, ex-England striker Ian Wright insisted that Tuchel’s side are ‘going to beat’ the Argentinians to reach their first World Cup final in 60 years.
‘If we get to a France or a Spain, I think the level goes to another place entirely,’ he said. ‘It’s gotta be difficult – it’s the final, isn’t it? But I don’t fear Argentina like I’d fear France or Spain, because I there are a lot of fallacies with them.’
The Argentinians, who lifted the trophy four years ago in Qatar, have appeared vulnerable defensively, and had to rely on the brilliance of Messi to overcome both Cape Verde and Egypt in the Round of 32 and Round of 16 stages.
On the same show, Neville pointed out that the country’s centre-back pairing of Premier League stars Lisandro Martinez and Cristian Romero could be exposed.
He said: ‘They seem to give a goal away between them every single game, and the full-backs aren’t great either – but the you watch them and they’re scoring goals, heading the ball, and something happens for them every time they put that shirt on.
‘I call them the best, worst centre-half pairing in the world, because at times they can be unbelievable.’
Should England progress, they will no-doubt have to nullify Messi. The 39-year-old has enjoyed a stellar few weeks in what is surely to be his World Cup farewell, scoring eight goals in six games.
But former Chelsea midfielder Cole, 44, is confident that England’s centre-back pairing of Marc Guehi and Mark Stones will keep arguably football’s greatest ever player quiet.
Ian Wright insisted that he his confident England will beat Argentina on Wednesday
It came after Joe Cole insisted that England will put Lionel Messi ‘to sleep’
He said on The Rest is Football: ‘Is this the first time Messi will play England? Well, we’re going to have to put him to sleep. We’re going to put him to sleep.
‘I’m saying it now, we’re going to reach the World Cup final. We’ve got plenty of speed for Argentina and we’re going to beat them. I can feel it in my bones.’
The affair at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium is sure to be a feisty one, particularly after Enzo Fernandez, Romero and Co were filmed singing that they will beat England ‘for the Falklands’ after beating Switzerland early on Sunday morning.
‘For the Malvinas (the Falklands), For Diego, For Leo’s [Messi’s] last one,’ they sang, dancing around their dressing room in Kansas City.
The South Americans’ 3-1 victory over Switzerland was, however, one marred by controversy.
Alexis Mac Allister put the Argentinians 1-0 up early on before Dan Ndoye hit back for the Swiss in the second-half. After Breel Embolo was dismissed for a dive, the world champions were dominant against 10-men during extra time. Julian Alvarez restored their lead with a sumptuous strike from distance before, with just seconds left, Lautaro Martinez made it 3-1.
But the Swiss were left incensed after the final whistle for the referee’s decision to dismiss Embolo on 72 minutes.
The striker was shown a second yellow card after a video assistant referee review which led to him being adjudged to have dived – rather than being fouled by Argentina’s Leandro Paredes. A new rule introduced for this World Cup states that if a player is booked or sent off – but the foul was actually committed by the opposition – the decision can be changed.
Switzerland’s response was emphatic. Defender Manuel Akanji said: ‘Every little thing was called against us’ and ‘I’ve never experienced such a one-sided game.’ Manager Murat Yakin called the refereeing ‘incomprehensible’.
Their comments only add to the outlandish World Cup ‘fixing’ conspiracy theories which suggest Messi and Co are being favoured by FIFA to knock out England and lift the trophy in New Jersey next Sunday.
Egypt, who lost to Argentina in the last round, have already called for a FIFA investigation over the manner of their exit. Their winger Mostafa Ziko said: ‘This tournament has been fixed,’ while coach Hossam Hassan said: ‘This match was rigged, and the whole world saw it.’
FIFA’s chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina responded, stating that ‘nobody can question the integrity’ of the refereeing and ‘unfounded allegations have no place in our sport’.
Ex-Man City defender Akanji, however, later accused the Portuguese official of ‘being against’ him and his team-mates.
He fumed: ‘Every little thing was called against us. Every dive and every foul by the Argentinians went unpunished. I don’t usually say anything against the officials, but I’ve never experienced such a one-sided game as today.
‘As soon as the game was over, I thought: I’m so proud of our team. What we’ve achieved throughout the entire tournament, and especially today… We played against the world champions, and they didn’t stand a chance.
The Three The Three Lions beat Norway on Saturday thanks to a brace from Jude Bellingham
‘I can’t recall a single scoring opportunity from open play where we were lucky. If the game had continued 11 against 11, it would have likely gone in our favour.’
Yet the Argentinian’s are through, and will face an England side brimming with confidence after their scalp of Norway on Saturday.
Jude Bellingham was the Three Lions’ saviour once again in the 2-1 victory, bagging his fifth and sixth goals of this summer’s tournament on a historic day.
England boss Tuchel, however, branded his players ‘lucky’ in an eye-opening interview with ITV minutes after the final whistle, sparking a perplexed reaction from Bellingham when it was his turn to speak to the media.
The midfielder suggested Tuchel, who retired as a footballer at just 25 due to injury and ended up working as a bartender before his coaching career, may ‘not know what it’s like’ to compete in top-level matches.
‘What do you think about the statement from your boss?’ Bellingham was asked, initially replying: ‘No comment.’
But when pressed, he then added: ‘Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those kind of conditions against Erling Haaland, (Martin) Odegaard, (Antonio) Nusa, (Alexander) Sorloth. That’s not an easy team to play against.
‘I think we’ve tried to create a positive environment and we should continue that going into the final four. I couldn’t speak highly enough of the lads. You’re not going to win every game popping the ball and making a thousand passes, sometimes you have to win dirty and we did that again tonight.’
How much is David Beckham set to pocket from his World Cup brand deals? Take on our quiz in our newsletter HERE.
