In Atlanta turned Buenos Aires, it was inevitable that in the end, Lionel Messi would eclipse all. A dark night for English football made gloomier still by the darkest of arts, until Argentinian quality finally won the day.
The first thing to say is that England lost the World Cup semi-final through their own craven fear. The retreat they had got away with in Mexico, they were never going to pull off against the world champions. Exhaustion played its part, the space around Enzo Fernandez gaping at the end of an epic summer; this was simply one battle too far.
Lionel Scaloni deserves his flowers too, for his substitutions had precisely the opposite effect to Thomas Tuchel’s. Where Anthony Gordon was withdrawn after putting England within touching distance of history, Rodrigo De Paul and Lautaro Martinez began the onslaught that ultimately broke the English resistance.
But it was the majesty of Messi, with both assists, which transcended the cagey bittiness of the piece. In the first half, he lost possession 15 times and still was able to transform the tempo once Tuchel invited him to dance. His colleagues are supposedly so reverent towards their captain that they are willing to sacrifice all to ensure he wins a second World Cup; their antics of the first 45 minutes (which entailed 19 fouls from both sides combined) did no such thing, robbing the semi-final of the rhythm at which Messi could play. By the end: 33 goal contributions in 33 World Cup matches.
A Simeone by name and by nature, decades after his father had got David Beckham sent off young Giuliano was the guiltiest party. In the first 40 minutes he committed five fouls without a yellow card; Elliot Anderson brought Messi down once, immediately making it into the book.
The seven sins of Simeone and co
Fernandez’s shove on Elliot Anderson’s neck Fernandez holding Anderson off the ball Anderson is held on the floor (Photo: Getty) Simeone’s foul on Pickford Paredes trying to get Kane booked Simeone’s theatrics against Pickford Simeone’s arm in Spence’s face Romero pulling back BellinghamAnderson’s role inverted from hunter to hunted; he began on a Messi man-marking mission and was soon the chief target, Fernandez ploughing a hand into the back of his neck. No card. Nor for kneeling on Anderson on the floor away from the ball.
Simeone’s arm would make its way into Djed Spence’s face, Jordan Pickford’s chest, and onto the deck under the slightest of contact from the England goalkeeper. The referee was mobbed in the moments after the Anderson foul on Messi and again when Harry Kane spoke to the officials; Leandro Paredes insinuated that Kane should be booked for covering his mouth, in a stadium so raucous the national anthem could not be heard before kick-off.
The Paredes incident was “pathetic,” summarised Joe Hart on punditry duty. The rivalry here was a political as well as a sporting one, making the manner of the defeat more galling to English eyes; Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso held up a banner proclaiming Las Malvinas Son Argentinas (The Falklands are Argentine). Before the match, fans set Union Jacks alight in the streets.
If Argentina do go on to beat Spain, their journey to the final has earned them other nemeses along the way. From the disallowed Egyptian goal to the Switzerland sending off, there is rightly or wrongly a perception that they have benefited persistently from refereeing decisions. The antics of Fernandez and Simeone could have earned at least five yellow cards between them. Instead bookings were for Lisandro Martinez, De Paul and – predictably for those of a Tottenham Hotspur persuasion – Romero, for a cynical pull on Jude Bellingham.
Defend their title and Argentina create a dynasty. Win a second World Cup and Messi will surpass Diego Maradona; every dynasty needs a great monarch. That may be enough to create romance as Messi walks off into the sunset. It won’t be enough to make Argentina popular champions.
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