Simeone and Seaman to meet for record fourth time

June 5, 2002

NARAHA, Japan, June 5 (Reuters) - Diego Simeone and David Seaman will set a record on Friday as the only players to take part in four Argentina v England matches.

Simeone, 32, is the archetypal battling Argentine midfielder with the spirit to drive his team forward in the toughest of circumstances.

He is best known to England fans for the foul that provoked David Beckham into retaliating and earned the now England captain a red card in St Etienne, France four years ago.

Seaman, who has brushed aside his rivals to retain his place as England's first choice goalkeeper, is a quiet 38-year-old with a distinctive pony-tailed hair-style.

There are a number of parallels in the careers of the two players, starting with the fact that they both made their international debuts in 1988.

Simeone and Seaman could both have missed the tournament being hosted by South Korea and Japan because of long term injuries. Simeone underwent surgery on damaged knee ligaments, Seaman suffered a shoulder injury, both in September.

The Argentine made it back to action just in time to be included in the World Cup squad and when he won his national record 105th cap in the team's group F opener against Nigeria on Sunday, it was his first international since the injury.

He had by September, however, helped Argentina secure their berth in the 2002 tournament.

Seaman, who will win his 70th cap in Friday's match, played in only one of England's warm-up games, the 4-0 win over Paraguay in April, after also being out since September.

He missed England's qualifying decider against Greece when Beckham secured his team's place in the finals.

The two first came face to face in a tournament at Wembley in 1991. Graham Taylor's England went two goals up but Argentina fought back to draw 2-2.

Following their second meeting in the 1998 World Cup, they were again on opposite sides in the 0-0 draw in a Wembley friendly in February 2000, the last match between the two countries.

Antonio Rattin and Kevin Keegan share with Simeone and Seaman the current record of three appearances in matches between the sides.

Rattin, sent off at Wembley during England's 1-0 quarter-final victory in the 1966 World Cup finals, also played against them in the 1962 finals in Chile where the English team won a first round group match 3-1.

He was on the winning side when Argentina won 1-0 in the four-team Nations Cup tournament in Rio de Janeiro in 1964, when Argentina also beat hosts Brazil to win the tournament.

Former England manager Keegan, who was never on the losing side in three friendlies, played against Argentina twice at Wembley -- a 2-2 draw in 1974 and the 3-1 victory over Cesar Luis Menotti's world champions in 1980.

He also played at the intimidating Bombonera stadium, home of Boca Juniors, in Buenos Aires in 1977 when England drew 1-1 with Argentina, who were preparing to host the 1978 World Cup finals.

A number of the world's greatest players have taken part in the fixture twice, including Diego Maradona, Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore, Daniel Passarella, Juan Sebastian Veron and Beckham.