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England desperately wanted to protect their lead as time ran out in their World Cup semi-final against Argentina. Coach Thomas Tuchel made lineup and strategy changes to build a wall in front of the goal.
Argentina and Lionel Messi just knocked him down.
England led 1-0 late in the second half before Messi assisted on goals by Enzo Fernandez in the 85th minute and Lautaro Martinez in the second minute of added time to give Argentina a wild 2-1 victory on Wednesday and a place in the World Cup final against Spain.
Tuchel’s tactical choices in one of the biggest clashes in one of football’s biggest rivalries will likely be scrutinized and criticized for years. England missed the chance to return to the World Cup final for the first time since 1966.
“They won all the headers. They kept crossing and crossing. So we put ourselves in a defense of five to close the gaps inside and be stronger in the air,” Tuchel said.
“Immediately after our goal, without substitutions, we conceded too many crosses and too many chances. So we tried to help,” Tuchel said. “But, of course, the responsibility is on the coach. And… if it doesn’t go well, it’s easy to say it was wrong.”
Tuchel’s chess moves could not contain Messi, the master of Argentina’s attacks. In the 38 minutes between England’s goal and Argentina’s winning goal, Argentina had a whopping 88% of possession, according to Opta.
According to Opta, it was only the second time this century that a team scored first in a World Cup semi-final and failed to reach the final. The other wasted advantage also came from England, in 2018 against Croatia.
England took the lead with Anthony Gordon’s goal in the 55th minute. But Argentina quickly changed the momentum with furious pressure on the England defense.
To protect the lead, England moved ever closer to their own goal, hoping to build the kind of impenetrable wall they had when they held out to beat Mexico in the round of 16 despite being down to 10 players.
Tuchel swapped defender Reece James for Dan Burn and midfielder Declan Rice for defender Nico O’Reilly in the 82nd minute.
“It’s disappointing to give up the space we had in those last 20 minutes,” England captain Harry Kane said. “It not only allowed (Messi), but the other players to grow in the game and feel more confident and throw balls into dangerous areas. In the end, it was too much for us to stop.”
Fernández scored just three minutes after England’s changes, with a precise right foot from outside the penalty area. Messi set up the play with a pass to his teammate, and England defenders failed to close it down before he fired the shot past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
The defending champion continued to advance and England’s wall continued to crumble. Argentina hit the crossbar and missed another header into the goalmouth before Martinez sealed the goal with a close-range header when England defenders lost him to Messi’s cross.
“They got tired,” Martinez said. “They pushed for 60 minutes and then ran out of steam. They got their goal and then fell behind. That gave us more composure to move the ball and stretch the field.”
England’s defense had earned praise after previous matches, especially for how it hunkered down during the second half of a 3-2 victory over Mexico in the round of 16, as El Tri peppered its opponent’s defensive line with cross after cross. But that came when England were down a player due to a 54th-minute red card to Jarell Quansah.
Burn, the 6-foot-7 defender who shined during that position in Mexico City, said Wednesday’s approach didn’t work.
“Without the ball, we probably defended too deep,” Burn said. “With the quality of opportunities Argentina were creating, I felt it was a matter of time… Being 10 or 15 minutes away from the World Cup final, we probably should have done it.”
Information from The Associated Press.
