{"id":798559,"date":"2026-07-13T06:41:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T06:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/798559\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T06:41:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T06:41:16","slug":"scaloni-plays-down-argentina-and-england-history-a-football-game-and-that-is-all-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/798559\/","title":{"rendered":"Scaloni plays down Argentina and England history: \u2018A football game and that is all\u2019 | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Argentina forward Jos\u00e9 L\u00f3pez said he and his teammates will \u201cleave our lives on the field\u201d in what will be a tantalising World Cup semi-final against England. Argentina booked their place in the last four with a 3-1 win against Switzerland<\/a> and it means one\u00a0of football\u2019s most glamorous, highly charged fixtures will take place for the first time since 2005.<\/p>\n

L\u00f3pez had played a bit-part role in this tournament until emerging from the bench and providing the pass from which Juli\u00e1n \u00c1lvarez scored<\/a> in the second half of extra time. Lautaro Mart\u00ednez sealed the win<\/a> later to set the stage for a tumultuous clash in Atlanta on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously inside and outside the four lines of the pitch it\u2019s a match that has a lot of history there, a lot of pain and a lot of things behind it,\u201d L\u00f3pez said. \u201cI think we are professionals and we\u2019re going to play it like we play every game: until the last \u00adsecond, leaving our lives on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Argentina<\/a> head coach, Lionel Scaloni, preferred to focus on another last-four spot, and a huge step towards retaining the trophy. \u201cWhat this team has achieved is historic, even though we could have played better. It\u2019s historic to be in a semi-final again,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a privileged space in football, not an easy feat. We\u2019re happy and excited now, and we will try to make it to the end with every last drop of sweat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 L\u00f3pez celebrates with goalscorer Juli\u00e1n \u00c1lvarez after Argentina take the lead against Switzerland in extra time. Photograph: Amy Kontras\/EPA<\/p>\n

Scaloni refused any invitation to pump up the volume before the \u00admeeting with England. \u201cThe \u00admessage is this is a football game. That is what I can say. We will be playing against a very tough opponent, they have an excellent coach, it is a football game and that is all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Switzerland pegged back Argentina through a Dan Ndoye goal before Breel Embolo\u2019s red card<\/a> gave the reigning champions a crucial advantage. \u201cIt was very difficult for us to win the duels but ultimately we always find the solutions,\u201d said Scaloni, who admitted his side struggled against their opponents\u2019 physicality. \u201cIn the end we made it possible but it was a big lesson for us as we know what we will be facing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Switzerland head coach, Murat Yakin, was angered by the \u00adsecond booking given to Embolo, which was awarded for simulation after Leandro Paredes was initially handed a yellow card for fouling him. Had Paredes not received that caution, the video assistant referee could not have intervened to erase it and punish Embolo instead under the \u201cmistaken identity\u201d rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was definitely no reason to award that yellow card [to \u00adParedes], I don\u2019t understand it,\u201d Yakin said. \u201cIt was a harmless situation. I don\u2019t understand why the decision was made and our player was sent off.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis rule destroyed our game today. I think it is extremely hurtful. We are not going to go to the semi-finals but I think we deserved to be there. To be eliminated that way hurts a lot but I can tell you we are very proud of our performance in this tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Argentina forward Jos\u00e9 L\u00f3pez said he and his teammates will \u201cleave our lives on the field\u201d in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":798560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-798559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=798559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/798560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=798559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=798559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}