The issue was essentially about the jersey. Argentina had asked FIFA to let them wear their dark blue shirt in the semifinal against England; otherwise Lionel Messi’s side would have had to play the World Cup match in light blue. FIFA did not turn the request down, and world football’s governing body has granted the special plea.
England reached the last four by beating Norway 2-1 in the quarter-finals, while Argentina booked their semifinal place by beating Switzerland in extra time. Now the two arch-rivals meet in a fight to reach the final, where the winner will face Spain on Sunday.
An England-Argentina clash means many memorable moments in World Cup history. In the 1986 quarter-final, Argentina won 2-1 after Diego Maradona’s controversial “Hand of God” goal. And at the 1998 World Cup, England’s David Beckham was sent off for kicking Diego Simeone.
Tellingly, Argentina wore dark blue, or navy, in both of those matches. By contrast, in the 1966 and 2002 World Cups they played England in their traditional light-blue-and-white stripes — and, as it happened, lost both times.
Taking that history as a good omen, Argentina sought permission to wear the blue away kit in the semifinal too, and FIFA approved. So they will take the field against England in blue.
England coach Thomas Tuchel had a little fun with it: “Until the warm-up I didn’t even know which kit we’d be wearing. Argentina will wear blue and we’ll wear white — is that supposed to be their lucky shirt?”
Told that England, as the home side, would wear white, Tuchel said: “If they are doing this out of some superstition or belief, you have to give them credit. I might have done the same in their place.”
Argentina got their lucky shirt — but will the result go their way too? How much the blue jersey helps will be known after tonight’s match.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report