England and Argentina fans ready to "suffer" together in World Cup semifinal

ATLANTA – Fans of England and Argentina are ready to "suffer" together in Atlanta on Wednesday, as this World Cup semifinal between two giants of the game is basically as big as it gets.

The desperation to win is clear for the supporters and players. Both teams haven't been great at this tournament but they're in the final four as they've similarly found a way to win.

Everyone knows how big this is. Both countries live for football. This is a huge rivalry.

A World Cup semifinal. Golden generations colliding. Iconic footballing nations. Legends leading the way in Harry Kane and Lionel Messi. Something must give in Atlanta. Only one team can make it to the World Cup final to play against Spain in New York on Sunday. Everyone connected with England and Argentina is desperate.

Sat together in a bar in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday, Argentina fan Mariano Di Croce and England fan Neil Smith started chatting in a heartwarming manner about what they both called an 'historic and 'iconic' game in world football.

Great rivals on and off the pitch, it turns out England and Argentina have more in common than most people think.

"I think we knew that this World Cup was going to be harder but we didn't know it was going to be this hard, right?" Di Croce, who had just flown in from Argentina and has lived in Boston, said towards Smith. "The way we suffer the last few games, it's been the same. The last World Cup we're in this kind of winning streak and then we lost to Saudi Arabia. That was a big shock. But then we kind of felt we went back, got back on track very quickly, and we had this confidence. Now it's like, we're like struggling every single game and we're suffering every single game. In Argentina, we have this saying where we say that Argentinians were born to suffer. So like this is almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yeah, it's really hard."

As Di Croce was saying this, Smith was smiling and nodding along knowingly. As an England fan, he understands the suffering. Multiple heartbreaking defeats in semifinals and finals of recent major tournaments, and stretching back many decades, has taken its toll on England's fans.

"The suffering for us has gone on for however long we keep getting close," Smith said. "1996 sticks in my head. Like, it will always, always, always be tough. If you lose, then it's on to the next one, and it's still, you know, the same level of, um, optimism, let's say! And we'll go into the next one. But something, somewhere around the experience at this World Cup is a little different."

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England and Argentina fans walked the streets of Atlanta together on Tuesday evening.

The odd bit of banter and chants flew back and forth. Argentina fans shook hands with an England fan who had a Manchester City shirt on and they simply said 'Sergio Aguero' smiled and moved on.

England's fans sang 'Wonderwall' and 'Hey Jude' loudly at a karaoke bar as Argentina's fans laughed and smiled nearby.

These are two great footballing nations and even among their many differences there is respect.

"We have the same vibes and we understand football quite similarly," Agustin Lopez, an Argentina fan wearing a Boca Juniors shirt said. "So I think it will be quite an interesting fun fight, but not a real fight, but in the singing and dancing. It will be a good atmosphere in the stadium."

Argentina fans like Lopez, who had flown in for the quarterfinal win in Kansas City and now the semifinal in Atlanta and has no plans to go home soon, outnumbered England's fans in Atlanta. Their fans were wrapped in flags, with a sea of blue and white shirts flowing around downtown after a huge party in Kenny's Alley. But it was close. Probably 60-40 in Argentina's favor over England's fans.

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How will the game play out on Wednesday?

"I think maybe it will not be the nicest match ever," Lopez smiled. "It will be really tough, and maybe by one goal. It will not be a match with a lot of goals."

"For someone that is not English or Argentinian it will be a really nice match to see. But the rest will be, just suffering. We suffer. We will do everything in peace and we enjoy," Lopez continued, with a grimace.

That suffering is the link between England and Argentina.

That same grimace was on the face of England and Birmingham City fans Trevor and James Bayley when discussing what kind of game it will be.

"We know it's going to be a horrible game. Hopefully we can keep our heads and get through," James Bayley said.

"It feels more like a toxic mentality of a club local derby," Trevor Bayley added. "It it a bit of hatred, which we haven't had in any of the games here, but I mean there's been no trouble at all for us. It's been a really good time. But it's a bit of a different vibe than the normal international games."

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This intense rivalry has been forged over decades, on and off the pitch, and their World Cup semifinal on Wednesday is a monumental game. It feels like the second biggest game in England’s World Cup history after the final, which they won against West Germany, in 1966. It's right up there for Argentina too.

"Against England it will always have a little more spice for the history. Not against English people. But more for what happened several years ago," Lopez added.

This rivalry has delivered some of the most memorable, dramatic and intense moments in World Cup history.

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Diego Maradona punching the ball into the net for the ‘Hand of God’ then scoring a sublime solo as Argentina beat England goal in the quarterfinals in 1986 as at the Azteca Stadium in the aftermath of the Falklands War between the two nations.

A teenage Michael Owen scoring a worldie in a World Cup last 16 game in 1998. David Beckham being sent off in the first half of said game with Diego Simeone going over easily, then England’s bravery to take it to extra time only to lose on penalty kicks.

Four years later Beckham smashed home a penalty kick to beat Argentina in an act of redemption at the 2002 World Cup group stage as Argentina were dumped out.

They played in a friendly game in 2005 in Geneva, Switzerland, which England won 3-2, but Argentina and England haven’t played since.

For over 24 years they’ve been waiting to meet at a World Cup again. Now that time has arrived.

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Lionel Messi has never played against England. He’s looking forward to it.

“Facing England will be special. It's my first time playing against England. I've played against just about everyone except them. They are a great team, a football powerhouse; it's always exciting to face opponents like that,” Messi said ahead of this game.

The respect Messi showed England is also reflected in the fans.

Di Croce and Smith want this game to take place at the World Cup more often, as these great nations have only met five times before at a World Cup and 14 times total in history.

"Oh, 100 percent. It doesn't matter what happens tomorrow. I don't think this will ever get settled from an emotional perspective in Argentina. So if England wins we're going to be looking forward for however many years to come so that we play again. And if we win, yeah, I think Argentina's going to become even more arrogant and we're going to be celebrating our revenge against England through football for forever. At least until the next time we play!" Di Croce laughed.

"It's pointless being a rivalry when we play each other once every 20 odd years,” Smith agreed. “Hopefully this is one of the things that comes out of their respective Football Association’s from this World Cup machine that we're in at the moment. They're like 'hey, this is good, we can get interest in playing each other more regularly and keep that rivalry burning, because I think it's a good one.’ It's one that has some great tales to it. I think we should recognize that, recognize that even with the Hand of God, we should create more stories than just relaying back to 40 years ago when two crazy things happen. One being the Hand of God, one being the greatest goal scored in the history of the game."

Is their respect between England and Argentina?

“100 percent” Di Croce and Smith said, shaking the hand of one another before going their separate ways.

England and Argentina are bitter rivals on and off the pitch but the scene in downtown Atlanta ahead of this massive World Cup semifinal proved that there are way more similarities between the two than most think.

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