The only thing England fans wanted on Wednesday was to see the Three Lions advance to the World Cup final. For a team that last won the Cup in 1966, the wait had been long enough.
“It would mean everything,” said Jason Davis-Cooke, whose parents are English and moved to the states in the ‘80s. He recently moved to the U.K. himself. “We like to think that we’re the home of football and to be sort of away from finals for so long, it’s not always been pleasant. There’s a lot of heartbreak over the years and I think just finally getting over that hump back into a World Cup final is going to mean everything.”
Unfortunately, England had to play Argentina in a renewal of an ancient rivalry in the semifinals. Which meant more heartbreak was coming.
Because once again, Argentina pulled off a stunning last-minute victory to win 2-1 and secure a spot in the final for the second straight World Cup.
Hundreds of fans braved the Canadian smoke-filled air in Boston Wednesday to take in the match at a city-hosted watch party at Boston City Hall Plaza. Even though it looked like “Dune” outside, spirits were high before the game. A DJ blasted music. Vendors sold food, lemonade and ice cream. One guy was hawking blue and white Argentina flags and gear.
Michael Linskey is a big fan of Argentina legend Lionel Messi and was among those in attendance.
“I wanted to see the France-Argentina rematch. I thought that’d be pretty cool, but I just want [Messi] to win again,” Linskey said. “This might be his last World Cup, I just want to see him, you know, win more trophies.”
For about 30 minutes after England’s only goal, it looked like that would be put on hold. But then, with just a few minutes to go until the 90-minute mark, Argentina scored to equalize, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Just a few minutes later, Argentina scored again. At least one Argentina fan threw his shirt into the air in celebration.
Not long after that, the final whistle sounded and the Argentina supporters could really start to party.
Max Kaufmann, who was born in Argentina but lives in the U.S. now, wore an Argentina flag like a cape. He was focused on the matchup between Argentina and Spain in the final.
“Spain has tactics, Spain has technique, they pass the ball like crazy, they are very much better technically than we are,” Kaufmann said. “But we have heart. We love to struggle. We struggle all our lives, man.”
The other thing Argentina has going for them is Messi. Those two goals Argentina scored? Both came from Messi assists. There’s a reason so many people at the watch party were wearing his jersey.
If this is his last World Cup run at 39, maybe the Viejo King will have one more decree to make before he steps down from his throne. Because until now, nobody has proven worthy to unseat him as La Albiceleste move on with the hopes of joining the extremely exclusive club of back-to-back World Cup champions.
