Manchester United legend

Chapter 142 The Battle of the Century
England played against Argentina, and the media hyped up the game before the game.

"After tonight, England v Argentina will be remembered for the quality of the feet"

On the morning of June 1998, 6, Adidas added such words to an advertisement with Beckham's head, and England and Argentina, the feuds, will compete in Saint-Etienne, France for the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

Compared with the implicitness of Adidas advertisements, the expression of the media is more open and direct. The "Daily Mirror" published a photo of Maradona's hand of God on the front page, next to the words: "Tonight at 8 o'clock, the time to repay the debt."

The Archbishop of York, David Hope, supports the England team. He joked that he hopes that the English players will decide the game with their feet, rather than the "hand of God" deciding the outcome of the game.

England longed for revenge, but not all Argentine players felt the burning hatred.

Argentinian midfielder Matias Almeida said: "England vs us was declared a classic because of the Falklands War but for us the classic is against Brazil".

Argentina captain and indefatigable midfielder Diego Simeone sees things differently, arguing that "even apart from political and historical factors, our whole country is eager to beat England".

The charm of the Anglo-Afghan confrontation also attracted the rock superstar Mick Jagger. During the interval of the Rolling Stones tour, he specially rushed from Amsterdam to Saint-Etienne, where the match was held.

Camera footage will catch him clapping and singing along with England fans.In distant Buenos Aires, British ambassador William Marsden prepared cocktails and invited colleagues, Argentine friends and the media to watch the game together.

The British media created an atmosphere of fear.On the eve of the game, the French police turned off the street lights in the main square, but large crowds still gathered.

Police cordoned off the streets around the square but did not close the entrances.

"We are in danger," French officials shrugged.The French police attached great importance to this game and dispatched hundreds of police officers, because not long ago, football riots occurred in the match between Germany and Yugoslavia. French policeman Nivel was injured by some football hooligans and fell into a coma.French police rated the security level A.After all, English football hooligans are also famous.

In the night, the crowd gathered in the square, the figures swayed, people roared, and occasionally screamed, but fortunately there was no fight.

Most people think that the chaos that the media overplays is inevitable.

At noon on matchday, thousands of England fans flocked to town, dressed in St George's and drinking in the sweltering heat.Tickets for scalpers have been sold to more than 300 pounds, and a small group of fans outside the train station believe that the tickets for scalpers will drop to around 100 pounds when the game starts.

In the stands of the Geoffroy Gusa Stadium, flags and banners of fans from both sides were mixed together.From right to left you can see 'Country Boys', 'Wolves' 'Cordates' 'Slough Spurs', 'Devoto', 'Piccadilly' and many more.

There were a few brave Argentine fans in the England fan zone, waving blue and white flags that read: The Malvinas Islands belong to Argentina.On other occasions, this may lead to conflicts, but all kinds of banners and slogans coexist peacefully on the court.

England still played the same lineup as they played.The goalkeeper is No. 1 Seaman, the four backs are right back No. 12 Gary Neville, the two center backs are No. 2 Campbell, No. 5 Adams, the left back is No. 3 Le Saux, the four midfielders are No. 16 Scholes on the left, No. 7 Beckham and No. 4 Ince in the middle, Anderton on the right, No. 9 Shearer and the 20-year-old young player Owen wearing No. 18 jersey on the front line.

Argentina's starting lineup is 3-4-3, goalkeeper No. 1 goalkeeper Roja, three central defenders No. 2 Ayala, No. 3 Chamot, No. 14 Vivas, four midfielders No. 5 Almeida, No. 8 Simeone, No. 11 Veron, No. 22 Zanetti, and three forwards No. 7 Lopez, No. 9 Batistuta, and No. 10 Ortega.

Argentina wore dark jerseys, while England wore white jerseys. After the two teams entered the field, Beckham was a little confused because Jost told him that he would divination for Beckham in this game. Jost told him to be careful, especially Argentina's captain Simeone.But Beckham, who is at the pinnacle of his career and love, didn't care about these.Owen was also full of confidence, and Jost told him that he would score in this game.

The two teams attacked quickly at the beginning of the game, but in the first 5 minutes of the game, Simeone of the Argentine team broke into the penalty area with the ball. Anderton defended Simeone. The goalkeeper Seaman saw Simeone rushing into the penalty area and immediately gave up the goal.

The England team protested fiercely, but the referee resolutely whistled a penalty kick, and Argentina's top scorer Batistuta stood in front of the penalty kick.

Batistuta kicked the ball down to the lower left corner of the goal. Although the England goalkeeper Alphabet guessed the right direction, Batistuta's shot was heavy and the football flew into the net. Argentina led England 1-0.

In the 7th minute, Ince of the England team was injured while defending Ortega. The England team doctor quickly entered the field to diagnose and treat Ince.

In the 10th minute, England's midfielder intercepted the ball and was about to be counterattacked, but it was countered by Argentina's Zanetti. The football bounced up. England's No. 3 asked Saux to bounce the ball in the air to Beckham. Beckham didn't wait for the ball to hit the ground.

Owen took the ball and rushed towards the penalty area of ​​Argentina. Vivas of Argentina chased Owen from behind. Ayala and Vivas wanted to close the door in front of the penalty area and blocked Owen from outside the penalty area. Owen accelerated into the penalty area again before the two closed the door.

Owen later recalled: "I rushed to the Argentine penalty area. Rather than saying that they kicked me, it is better to say that they tried to stop me. If this foul occurred outside the penalty area, nine out of ten it would be a free kick. A penalty kick in the penalty area needs more definite evidence. So I was still not sure whether it was a penalty kick. If there was a drag in the penalty area, Hoddle did not instruct me to flop."

Beckham stepped forward to celebrate with Owen, and the Argentine team argued around the referee.

That wasn't a surefire penalty.Seaman received a yellow card for Argentina's penalty kick, and England coach Hoddle also hopes that the Argentine defender will also receive a yellow or red card for bringing Owen down.

However, this did not happen. Hoddle came to the sideline and politely asked the fourth referee: "Why didn't you give the card?"

As a result, the fourth referee ignored him, and Hoddle could do nothing while sitting on the coach's bench.Hoddle asked Ince to send a message to the referee, and the referee gave Ince a yellow card.Hoddle was completely annoyed with the fourth referee.Hoddle sat there angrily from the moment Shearer made his way to the penalty spot until the penalty was netted.He thought, this is a signal (the referee) that something bad is going to happen.

Then England captain Shearer stood in front of the penalty kick. Shearer was worried and put the ball twice, and then stepped on the penalty point with his feet, fearing that the penalty kick would be missed.

The referee blew the whistle, and Shearer took a run-up shot, which was also powerful. The football went straight to the upper left corner of the goal. Roja did not throw the football down. England equalized the score, and the two teams drew 1:1.

(End of this chapter)