The ‘Animals of ‘66’. The Hand of God. Michael Owen’s goal. Diego Simeone’s fall. David Beckham’s red. Beckham’s redemption in Japan.
The iconic moments that exist in the Argentina-England rivalry transcend generations. They accentuate one of the few genuinely fierce rivalries in international football.
The rivalry is not just based around football; it’s obviously something more vitriolic.
There have already been statements made by Lionel Scaloni (Argentina manager), insisting that “this is just another football match”, likely because he knows it’s something much more.
Simeone, a prominent figure in the rivalry between the two countries on a footballing level, said it best in his documentary: There’s Something Different About It.
The ‘Animals’ of ‘66
England’s first and only World Cup triumph is known for their infamous “they think it’s all over” victory over Germany, but on the way to the trophy, their rivalry with Argentina began in a fierce quarter-final.
Diego Rattín, Argentina’s full-back, was alleged to have sworn at German referee Rudolf Kreitlein. Kreitlein couldn’t understand Spanish but deemed the action egregious enough to send him off.
Rattín dug his heels in and needed to be removed by police officers, whilst Kreitlein was smuggled out of Wembley as the Argentina players were incensed.
Sir Alf Ramsey ordered his players not to swap shirts with the Argentinians, labelling them “animals”.
The Hand of God
Diego Maradona frequently spoke about how the Falklands War fuelled Argentina’s 1986 victory over England. “We told ourselves before the game that football had nothing to do with the Falklands War, but we knew intimately that Argentinians had been killed there, that they killed us.”
The fateful match endeared him even further to the Argentinian people, firstly for his utterly sublime goal that started in his own half and finished with him rounding Peter Shilton to score, and secondly for the Hand of God goal.
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The notorious, controversial goal was punched into the net by Maradona, leaving England incensed as the officials failed to spot the infringement.
It’s one of football’s most defining and famous moments.
Maradona punched the ball into the net to fool the English, whilst dedicating it to the Argentinians who had lost their lives in the Falklands War. The sublime and ridiculous sides of Diego Maradona were perfectly encapsulated in the two goals he scored.
Afterwards, he dubbed the goal “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”; the goal helped cement his legacy as a footballer forever.
Beckham’s downfall and revenge
It’s incredible to think that you can’t mention the legacies of either David Beckham or Maradona without the Argentina-England rivalry.
The 1998 Round of 16 match is possibly one of the greatest World Cup games ever. Argentina always managed to tap into different, visceral emotions when it came to playing England.
Notably because it started with the Falklands on their minds in 1986.
The 1998 match was chaotic and enthralling. An 18-year-old Michael Owen announced himself on the world stage with a dizzying, mazy run that led to a fabulous goal.
If Argentina have Maradona’s goal in 1986, England have Owen’s in 1998, but what happened afterwards made the headlines.
The game was defined by David Beckham’s red card after kicking Simeone, who made the most of the petty challenge.
The drama didn’t stop there. Sol Campbell headed in from a set-piece, but the goal was disallowed, and whilst the England players celebrated in the corner, Argentina went up the other end and almost scored.
England lost on penalties, and the country turned on Beckham until four years later, when ‘Beckham-mania’ took hold of Japan for the 2002 tournament.
Simeone was still playing, and so was Beckham. This time, England had the officiating luck as Owen ‘fooled’ Argentina into conceding a penalty. Before Beckham stepped up to take it, Simeone attempted to shake his hand to put him off. Beckham looked the other way and slotted the kick home, putting the demons of 1998 to rest.
The rivalry is epic, entertaining and nasty because both nations disliked each other and really enjoyed beating one another. It’s not really something that occurs in football anymore.
Whilst both camps have played down the rivalry in the build-up to the match, you can only hope the high-stakes semi-final comes anywhere close to some of the encounters that came before.
