Harry Kane said England will not be distracted by the emotional baggage surrounding their blockbuster World Cup semi-final against Argentina on Wednesday.
The history of matches between the nations is peppered with incidents, set against a lingering sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands, known in Spanish as the Malvinas, in the South Atlantic Ocean.
The most storied encounter between the teams was a 2-1 victory for Argentina at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico featuring two goals from Diego Maradona — one the infamous “Hand of God” goal and the other a dazzling solo effort considered one of the best ever.
Twelve years later David Beckham was sent off at France ’98 as Argentina won on penalties.
England captain Kane was asked in an interview with ITV whether managing the emotion around the match in Atlanta would be challenging.
“Yes and no,” he said. “I think it’s not something you want to focus too much on, surrounding the history.
“That’s all part of it and that’s what you guys (in the media) will talk about, the fans will be involved in.
“But from a player’s point of view it’s us against a great team, who are smart, who are tactical, who know how to buy fouls, know how to slow the game down — like many different teams you come up against throughout your whole career.
“So, it’s England versus Argentina, it’s two of the biggest nations going toe to toe. Two giants in the semi-final of a World Cup. The rest of it is just a small part for us.”
– Kane v Messi –
The Bayern Munich forward comes up against Golden Boot rival Lionel Messi, who is facing England for the first time in his long career.
The Argentinian maestro, 39, has eight goals so far, two more than Kane, but the England forward said his team would be focused on Argentina as a team rather than on their star player.
“We know how good a player he is, we know what he’s done in the game, how consistent he’s been for so long,” said Kane, who was top scorer at the 2018 World Cup.
“But the game is against Argentina, not against Lionel Messi. So yeah, we have a lot of preparation to do. We’re coming up against a great unit, a great team with fantastic players.”
Kane, 32, downplayed the disagreement between manager Thomas Tuchel and midfielder Jude Bellingham after the German criticised England’s performance in the quarter-final against Norway.
“We know what we have, we know the togetherness we have, we all push each other, we all drive each other,” said the skipper.
“It doesn’t mean we have to agree on every situation, all the time. I think that’s what makes the boss so unique and so great, because he wears his heart on his sleeve, he’s emotional, he says it how it is.
“Sometimes in the moment it might be hard to take, but when you actually digest it and explain it, we’re all professionals, we’re all here because we’ve been pushed to a level that we can take.
“We can take criticism. We can take it on the chin, it improves us, it makes us better.”
