Lionel Scaloni: ‘It would be quite wrong’ to make clash about the Falklands

By Jonathan Veal, Press Association, Atlanta

Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has tried to ease potential tensions ahead of the blockbusting World Cup semi-final with England.

While the rivalry between the two countries is rich in history on the pitch, with Diego Maradona and David Beckham headline acts, it goes beyond football.

Tensions over the Falklands War in 1982 remain off the field, and Argentina still dispute the sovereignty of the British overseas territory, with their fans regularly singing songs about it.

Over 900 people died during the conflict, but Scaloni says it has no bearing on Wednesday’s semi-final.

“It’s a football match; I can’t mix things up, out of respect for what happened so many years ago,” he said.

“It was a very sad time in our history, and there isn’t much we can do about it. Mixing the two would be madness. We criticise that there was war.

“Of course people remember history and what happened. It is a game of football, we need to keep things separate.

“Yes, we remember Argentinian people and people that were lost in the war, but let’s not conflate things.

“What do the players of today have to do with many, many years ago?

“It was a sad time, we remember this, of course, but it would be quite wrong to put this into the game.”

Scaloni has yet to come up against England during his eight-year stint as Argentina boss.

But he did have a four-month spell in English football in 2006 when he joined West Ham on loan, although he admits the fans might not remember him fondly.

The former right-back made a mistake during the FA Cup final that saw Steven Gerrard score a last-minute screamer to make it 3-3, with Liverpool going on to win on penalties.

“People at West Ham might not remember (me) very fondly, I could have done better,” he added.

“It was a bit of an odd time in my life, I was there thinking about playing the (2006) World Cup with Argentina.

“West Ham wanted me to play, I played every game with Alan Pardew.

“I made a grave error but it gave Gerrard the opportunity, and it changed my life forever, but also in a good way.

“That’s how I met my wife, and there is a destiny one must find.

“But West Ham fans might not remember me fondly because we had the game in the pocket.”