England v Argentina plotlines: Atlanta may see a rapid Alvarez encore

MORE, MORE, MORE? Julian Alvarez #9 of Argentina celebrates with teammates. Pic: Carl Recine/Getty Images

No more whatever, Tuchel has to get big calls right — from the start 

“Whatever!” — Jude Bellingham’s one-word response to Thomas Tuchel’s post-match histrionics in Miami was a swift dismissal. 

For all of his personal reasons to do so, England’s match winner against Norway was surely peeved at how the manager’s in-game tweaks had blunted him for the spell when Norway took total control.

Dropping Bellingham deeper to help cover for the illness-enforced absence of Declan Rice did England more harm than good and was far from an outlier. For a team that has made it this far, Tuchel and his support staff have got an awful lot of selections and switches wrong.

Back at Euro 2024, when Gareth Southgate arrived in Germany with his midfield a total muddle we argued that England were building the plane while flying it. 

Two years on, Tuchel is attempting to repair and upgrade the plane while taking it in to land.

His selection of Noni Madueke over Bukayo Saka in Miami blew up instantly. While Argentina are one of the tournament’s narrowest teams, Tuchel can’t afford to get his wide calls wrong again. 

Rice, meanwhile, is reported to be fully fit. Really? If that means he’s recovered from illness fair enough but the Arsenal man has operated nowhere close to a full battery for most of the tournament. 

Elliot Anderson’s one-man show somehow survived Norway but he will need more from Rice in Atlanta, especially given Leandro Paredes’ stellar form.

A defensive switch may also be on the cards but it feels like high time Tuchel got some big calls right from the jump, rather than panicked patching and relying on Bellingham and Harry Kane to cover gaping holes.

Alvarez off the mark and ready for more?

When Julian Alvarez wrapped his right instep around the ball with eight minutes to go in Kansas City, his curling stunner finally buried Swiss resistance. But for the sake of Argentina’s soul-sapping efforts to hold on to their World Cup, it means even more.

Lionel Messi’s strike partner has been in fitful form in his first five games here, perhaps the distraction of a melodrama over his potential switch from Atletico to Barcelona affecting him.

 Too often it has been Lautaro Martinez who has brought more influence off the bench.

Alvarez’s screamer was his first goal of this World Cup and first competitive one for over a year. Getting him firing again and forcing English defenders to worry as much about him as his captain is a boon. In Qatar, Alvarez scored in bunches. 

Atlanta may see a rapid encore.

Penalty hoodoo lifted but Argentina have advantage 

The last knockout meeting between the sides was, of course, in Saint-Etienne 28 years ago. 

While we can expect plenty of David Beckham and Diego Simeone spotting at Atlanta Stadium, more pertinent cutaways would be to Paul Ince and David Batty.

Ultimately, 10-man England dragged Argentina all the way to penalties then but two misses were enough.

That shootout defeat was among run of five-straight but Gareth Southgate’s most lasting legacy may be lifting the doom from the spot. England have won three of the last four games to have gone to penalties.

Argentina carry better momentum, four-straight wins from the spot, their last losing experience a full decade ago.

Inexperienced whistler Elfath has work cut out for him 

While he doesn’t carry quite the chaotic track record of fellow CONCACAF Ivan Barton, who took charge of Spain-France, Ismail Elfath was another wholly surprising choice for a game of such magnitude.

Appointing an American referee may be FIFA’s way of giving the host nation some presence in the final weeks of its own show but the inexperienced and sometimes too lenient Elfath will have his work cut out for him in Atlanta. 

An MLS regular, he has taken charge of games involving Messi five times. The little fella has won them all.

Atlanta a much hotter ticket than Dallas 

Unlike the situation down in Dallas, where two smaller travelling parties for Spain and France saw ticket prices plunge, the second semi-final is proving a red-hot ticket.

Given the history and the fact that these are two countries among the largest support seen over here this summer that shouldn’t be a surprise. Security is obviously a concern too.

As of Tuesday morning, secondary resale platforms had limited and expensive options: the cheapest ticket was going for $3000.