Thomas Tuchel believes England will face an Argentina team \u201cfuelled by history\u201d in their World Cup semi-final in Atlanta on Wednesday. It will be the sixth time that the nations have met at the tournament with the previous three coming after the Falklands war of 1982.<\/p>\n
The most controversial game was in the 1986 quarter-finals when Diego Maradona scored his \u201cHand of God\u201d goal and Argentina<\/a> won 2-1 en route to the title. Argentina triumphed on penalties in the last 16 in 1998 when David Beckham was sent off. Beckham gained a measure of revenge four years later when he scored from the penalty spot for a 1-0 group-stage victory. England won 3-1 at the group phase in 1962 and 1-0 in the quarter-finals in 1966, when they went on to become champions.<\/p>\n Tuchel recognises the fierce fighting spirit in Argentina\u2019s ranks and how they will give everything to retain the title they won in 2022. They hope to do so to provide Lionel Messi with a fitting send-off at what is expected to be his last World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some of Argentina\u2019s players chanted a song in the dressing room after their 3-1 quarter-final win over Switzerland that references the Falklands war and pledges to win the World Cup for \u201cLas Malvinas, por Diego and por la ultima de Leo\u201d \u2013 \u201cfor the Falklands, for Diego and for Leo\u2019s last\u201d.<\/p>\n Tuchel was asked whether he was aware of the aggressive edge to the fixture. \u201cI know some of the players, I coached some of the players,\u201d he said. \u201cI can sense it. You can see it. They have this kind of edge. You can sense it when they\u2019re going a goal down, when matches are tight.<\/p>\n double quotation markWe have the grit, we have the mentality that it takes to go up against it. And we are ready for it<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re almost the same group as four years ago. You can see the cohesion, you can see the sacrifice that they put into it. They believe in their style. And their style is a very emotional style. It was in Qatar and it is now.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd, of course, history \u2026 they are also fuelled by that. They are fuelled by history, it means a lot to them. So this is what we basically expect, and what we are up against. But we are also emotional, we have the grit, we have the mentality that it takes to go up against it. And we are ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n