Argentina VP Villarruel Calls England 'Invaders' Before World Cup Semifinal, Reviving 1982 Falklands Tensions
Updated
Updated · ESPN · Jul 15
Argentina VP Villarruel Calls England 'Invaders' Before World Cup Semifinal, Reviving 1982 Falklands Tensions
3 articles · Updated · ESPN · Jul 15
Summary
Victoria Villarruel used an X post before Wednesday's semifinal in Atlanta to call England "usurping pirates" and "invaders," casting the match as more than football for Argentina.
1982 Falklands War tensions underpin the rhetoric: Villarruel invoked Las Malvinas and Argentina's claim to the islands, which voted in a 2013 referendum to remain a UK overseas territory.
Lionel Scaloni pushed back at his pre-match news conference, calling it "madness" to mix sport and politics and saying today's players should not be tied to a war fought many years ago.
Atlanta has added security personnel for the semifinal as officials seek to keep the politically charged buildup from spilling over around the match.