By Mike Collett
Reuters
LONDON, - England will be looking to avenge their World Cup defeat by Argentina -- and take a significant step towards forging a team for this summer's European championship -- when the powerful South Americans visit Wembley for a friendly on Wednesday.
That, in essence, is what the match is all about. However, the build-up has been totally dominated by a spat between England midfielder David Beckham and his Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson after Beckham missed a United training session last Friday, saying his baby son was ill. Instead of playing for United against Leeds on Sunday, Beckham watched the match from the stands -- although England manager Kevin Keegan says Beckham will start against Argentina.
He will also, no doubt, be hoping that Beckham will finish against Argentina too. Last time they met, on June 30, 1998 at St Etienne in a World Cup second round match, Beckham was sent off for kicking out at Argentina's Diego Simeone. The 10-men of England held out for a 2-2 draw, but lost the penalty shoot-out.
Simeone, who was accused of play-acting to get Beckham sent off, but who has since made his peace with the Englishman when Inter Milan played Manchester United in the Champions League last season, will face him again on Wednesday. Simeone swapped shirts with Beckham at Old Trafford and said on Monday that Beckham, widely vilified by opposing fans ever since that infamous red card, was not to blame for England's elimination from France'98.
"England found someone to blame in David Beckham -- but the players who cost England were the ones who missed the penalties," said Simeone, who now plays for Lazio. Keegan will be even keener for a victory than usual on Wednesday. England played poorly and were beaten 1-0 by Scotland in their last match at Wembley on November 17 and although they qualified for the European championships on a 2-1 aggregate, they will need to show a huge improvement to beat Argentina.
OUTSTANDING GOAL
Keegan will be without the injured Michael Owen, who scored an outstanding goal against Argentina in France, and also cannot use the injured Robbie Fowler. He is expected to start with Leicester's Emile Heskey in attack alongside Alan Shearer.
The South Americans, currently ranked sixth in the world, have most of the squad that beat England in the World Cup and under new coach Marcelo Bielsa have looked sharp and dangerous in their recent matches with a convincing 2-0 win over Spain to their credit on their last visit to Europe in November.
Bielsa is likely to start with a 3-4-3 formation -- with Gabriel Batistuta spearheading the attack on his return to Wembley where he scored a brilliant goal for Fiorentina against Arsenal in the Champions League in October. With outstanding players throughout the team, Argentina have an excellent chance of winning at Wembley for the first time.
Since they first met England there in 1951, England have won 2-1 (1951), 1-0 (1966 World Cup quarter-final), and 3-1 (1980). The two other meetings ended in 2-2 draws in 1974 and 1991.
