World Cup: Tuchel, Messi and why Argentina beat England in semifinal
Defending champions Argentina are heading back to the World Cup final after a 2-1 victory over England on Wednesday in Atlanta. La Albiceleste will face
Defending champions Argentina are heading back to the World Cup final after a 2-1 victory over England on Wednesday in Atlanta. La Albiceleste will face Spain in Sunday’s final and are seeking their fourth title, having also lifted the trophy in 1978 and 1986. England, meanwhile, now have to play France on Saturday in the third-place match and the inquest into their defeat has begun. Al Jazeera breaks down some of the key deciding factors in how Argentina prevailed over bitter rivals England in the semifinal. Tuchel’s questionable tactics England protected leads against Mexico in the last 16 and Norway in the quarterfinals by reverting to a back five and shutting up shop. They attempted the same thing against Argentina after taking a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute through Anthony Gordon, but it did not work this time. England became trapped too early in their half facing relentless Argentina pressure – the Three Lions only had 12 percent possession between scoring against Argentina and conceding the winner in stoppage time. At one point, there were six defenders on the pitch for England, and every player was typically behind the ball, so they lacked an outlet to relieve the pressure. While England defended heroically at times, with a world-class save by Jordan Pickford from Nicolas Gonzalez, they were riding their luck well before the equaliser as Alexis Mac Allister hit each post, and it felt inevitable that Argentina would score eventually, which they duly did in the 85th and 92nd minutes.
England coach Thomas Tuchel accepted responsibility for the defeat but said he did not regret his tactics. “You can discuss this with a million coaches [but] I have to make a decision on the pitch,” Tuchel told the BBC. “I analysed the match and I did it a certain way so that’s my responsibility. In the moment, no regrets. The team gave everything and we were very, very close.” It was the third time since the 2018 World Cup that England have lost a major championship semifinal or final after taking the lead. All three defeats, including Wednesday’s at Atlanta Stadium, followed the same template – a solid start, going 1-0 up, a desperate rearguard action, and finally, defeat. Messi’s enduring brilliance Argentina’s captain and talisman, Lionel Messi, proved that at 39 years old, he can still drag his team from behind to glory as he created both of his side’s goals. Messi has played every minute of all four of Argentina’s knockout games at the tournament, making an art of preserving his energy for the moments that matter. Even at his age, he still has the ability to explode into elusive, mazy runs, to add to his still razor-sharp creativity and goal-scoring acumen. Messi had a quiet start to the game and was subject to some close attention and rough tackles, particularly from England midfielder Elliot Anderson. But midway through the first half, he escaped the attention of three England players in a brilliant mazy run, before he was scythed down by Anderson, who went into the book.
The BriefWire