‘We need to keep the situation under control’: Scaloni and Argentina remain focused ahead of England match
Video courtesy: SNTV
The first half was a stormy one, with referee Ismail Elfat handing out two yellow cards and 19 fouls.
One such occasion late in the first half resulted in an Argentina free-kick in England’s half – both teams seeing their players swarm the ball. As the referee restored order, England captain Harry Kane briefly covered his mouth to speak to Elfat, which remains within the rules. Covering your hand to talk to another player during a confrontation is a sending off offense – Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron found this out the hard way when he was the first player sent off at a World Cup for this particular offense earlier in the tournament against Turkey.
Almiron covered his mouth while talking to Mert Muldur and was shown a straight red card.
But Kane talked to the referee, and that’s a different scenario. Not that it bothered Paredes, who was quick to point out the incident and point the finger at the England captain.
And Hart was quick to condemn the actions of the Argentine midfielder.
“It’s a pity. (Kane) was talking to the referee, he was trying to be clear. It’s so difficult to communicate there,” Hart explained to the BBC studios.
“Harry Kane is just trying to talk to the referee personally. I understand they will do everything they can to win this game… but come on, just win the game by scoring more goals.”
With the game finishing 0-0 and shots on goal limited in extreme cases, the match threatened to become testy, with players regularly hitting the deck as the number of fouls mounted.
But one thing was for sure: Kane committed no offense by talking to the referee. The Bayern Munich star was not booked as the referee waved off Paredes before allowing Argentina to take a free-kick that ultimately went nowhere.
“I just think it’s funny,” Wayne Rooney added, reviewing the incident.
England were the first team to break the deadlock, with Anthony Gordon scoring in the 55th minute. But late goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez secured Argentina’s place in the final.
The Three Lions were bidding to reach their first World Cup final since 1966, having lost their last two semi-final matches in 1990 and 2018.
They came into the match on the back of a spirited win over Mexico and a hard-fought win over Norway.
In Sunday’s final, Argentina will play Spain, which beat France in the first semi-final. Add TNT Sports as your preferred source here to see more content like this. Stream the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Serie A, Men’s and Women’s FA Cup and more on TNT Sports and HBO Max.