Argentina vice-president brands English pirate usurpers before World Cup semi-final | OneFootball

According to L'Équipe, Argentina's vice-president Victoria Villarruel used X to label the English pirate usurpers hours before Wednesday's second World Cup semi-final between Argentina and England, which kicks off at 21:00.

She said facing England is always special, invoking the Falklands, Diego Maradona's Hand of God in the 1986 quarter-final that Argentina won 2-1, and what she framed as Lionel Messi's last World Cup.

Villarruel added that Argentina should stop invaders, urged support for the team, and said the country would keep claiming what it considers its own. She argued this was not just another match.

Head coach Lionel Scaloni had moved to cool the rhetoric on Tuesday in Atlanta, stressing it was a football match and that mixing the two would be madness.

Several Argentina players have also sought to play down the political and historical backdrop to the fixture.

Source: L'Équipe