With two late, strategic wonderful goals, Argentina takes out England in the World Cup semifinal, winning 2-1 in yet another powerful, triumph. Battered but still alive, Argentina will face Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday. Whatever that match carries, it can’t possibly be the emotional and physical fistfight that this one was.
Although both teams haven’t squared horns for the past 21 years in the pitch, and haven’t met in a knockout match since 1998, Argentina and England have a common history of triumph and disappointments, having victories at one another’s expense, ugly out-of-pitch incidents, and the still-raw memory of a 1982 war between the two. Both titles and pride are at stake when these two nations meet, and it’s a toss-up as to which is more important.
But Victoria Villarruel, Argentina’s vice president, didn’t abide by such pleasantries. In a Spanish-language X post the night before the match, she called England “usurping pirates,” adding that “against the English, it’s always something more. It’s the Malvinas, it’s Diego, it’s Leo’s last one, and it’s putting the brakes on the invaders. Go Argentina! Because until our last breath, we’re going to claim what’s ours!”
Supporters of both squads massed outside Atlanta Stadium hours before the gates even opened. The official allocations were situated at opposite ends of the stadium with different entrances, and security was on high alert for what FIFA and law enforcement officials have called the highest-risk match of the entire World Cup.
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