Old rivals cross swords once more as England tackle Argentina
June 6, 2002
SAPPORO, Japan, June 6 (AFP) -- England renew hostilities with bitter World Cup adversaries Argentina here Friday seeking to avenge controversial defeats at the hands of the South Americans in two previous finals.
Since the Falklands war between Argentina and Britain in 1982 matches between the two nations have been emotionally-charged affairs, none more so than their pulsating quarter-final meeting in Mexico 16 years ago.
Argentine legend Diego Maradona scored one of the most controversial goals of all time when his 'hand of God' goal helped his side to a 2-1 win over their old foes.
The predatory Maradona leapt high in England's penalty box to meet a mishit defensive clearance and fisted the ball into the net before goalkeeper Peter Shilton could clear the danger.
The England players were furious with the referee but the goal stood and Maradona rounded off a memorable victory by scoring an utterly flawless second, waltzing around seven challenges before tucking the ball past Shilton in what many regard as the best-ever World Cup goal.
Another flashpoint came at the 1998 World Cup in France where Argentina knocked England out on penalties in St Etienne and David Beckham was sent off for a lashing out at Diego Simeone.
Simeone fell theatrically to the ground after being struck by a grounded Beckham and did his utmost to make sure the England international received his marching orders.
The decision by Danish referee Kim Milton Nielsen to show Beckham the red card turned Beckham into a national hate figure.
Those epic battles are fresher in the memory but the animosity between the countries goes back even further.
The teams were drawn against each other in the quarter-finals at the 1966 World Cup in England.
A bruising encounter was marred by a series of late tackles by the Argentinians who had Antonio Rattin sent off for dissent before half-time.
The Argentina captain continued to remonstrate with the referee and took almost 10 minutes to leave the field.
Manager Alf Ramsey was so furious with the cynical tactics employed by England's opponents that he stopped George Cohen from swapping shirts with Argentina defender Roberto Profumo after the game and branded the South Americans "animals" in the post-match press conference.
And it was not only been in competitive matches that Argentina and England have failed to see eye to eye with one another.
In a 'friendly' fixture at the Boca Juniors stadium in 1977 Argentine forward Daniel Bertoni, who later played alongside Maradona at Napoli, punched out two of England defender Trevor Cherry's teeth in an incident off the ball.
Argentina have a far superior World Cup record than their European counterparts but ironically, it was an Englishman who brought the game to South America more than a century ago.
In 1891, a teacher named Watson Hutton arrived in Buenos Aires to take up a post as headmaster of a local school and later became famous for starting the very first Argentine football league.
Many of the clubs formed back then still carry English names today such as River Plate, Racing and Newell's Old Boys.