"Fueled by History: Argentina Players Draw Inspiration from Falklands War for England Showdown"

ARGENTINA players make no secret of how the Falklands War will inspire them against England.

After the quarter final win over , they once more whose words begin “For the Malvinas” – the Spanish name for the islands which form the British Overseas Territory.

Jose Manuel Lopez has addressed the intense rivalry between Argentina and England Credit: Shutterstock Editorial The Argentina squad are in high spirits heading into their semi-final showdown Credit: Getty

Forward Jose Manuel Lopez, known as Flaco, comes from the Corrientes region of that provided a lot of the group troops deployed and killed in the invasion of 1982.

Lopez said: “From the four lines of the pitch to the outside, it is a clash that has a lot of history, that has a lot of pain and a lot of things behind it.

“But I think we are professionals, we are going to play it as we play all the games, until the last second, leaving everything on the pitch.

“It is a special game, it is a semi-final of a World Cup, a game that, personally, I think all my teammates, since we started kicking the ball, we dreamed of playing it.

“I think we don’t need more motivation than that.”

Any World Cup semi final is a big game. But a clash with takes the stakes even higher.

Midfielder said: “We know what the game against England means for our country, but it’s a game of and we will try to address it in the best way.

“A dream, a match that every kid dreams of playing.”

Argentina yet again made life difficult for themselves, allowing Switzerland to take control of the quarter final and then equalise before Breel Embolo’s red card changed the game.

Playing against England is likely to bring a more intense focus.

Cristian Romero said: “We will give our souls against England.

“It’s football, sometimes you win or lose but we will leave our lives on the pitch to reach the final again.”

Boss Lionel Scaloni and his team all wore black armbands against Switzerland in honour of former captain Antonio Rattin, who died on the day of the game.

Rattin was famously sent off in the bad-tempered 1966 World Cup quarter final against England at Wembley.

German referee Rudolf Kreitlein accused the midfielder of “violence of the tongue” – even though he did not speak Spanish.

There is a line about Messi in the song, too Credit: Getty

Rattin was so incensed by what he saw as bias in favour of the hosts he refused to leave the field.

After sitting on the red carpet reserved for the use of , he was escorted off the pitch by two police officers, damaging an England pennant as he left.

England boss Alf Ramsey later described the Argentina team as “animals” and banned his players from exchanging shirts.

Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni is doing his best to play down the significance of facing England.

Scaloni said: “This is a football game, the message is this is a football game.

“That is what I can say, we will be playing against a very tough opponent, they have an excellent coach, it is a football game and that is all.”

But that is not all, as any Argentinian would tell you.