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LONDON: England flags were hanging in cafes, outside Asian corner shops and vape shops and even at estate agents. The pubs were the most decked out. Many had put TV screens up all around, with extra screens in beer gardens and most pubs were fully booked.

Three hours before the Argentina-England semi-final, pubs started to get packed with men and women in football shirts, some draped in England flags. Many were convinced it was England’s time and she would win. But some were anxious saying Egypt had been cheated in their match against Argentina when they had a second goal controversially disallowed and their request for video review of an Argentina goal denied. This was something taxi drivers repeatedly brought up.
The extremely hot weather had put everyone in a good mood though. Pubs were hoping for their biggest takings of the year. During the first half, the mood was flat with many fans grumbling that the referee was letting Argentina get away with lots of fouls and no yellow cards.

“If you foul Messi, you get a yellow card straight away. Argentina are scumbags,” one fan said.
Pints of beer were piled up across tables. When Anthony Gordon scored after 55 minutes, the pub I was in went wild – everyone jumped up and screamed. Young couples embraced in kisses. Loud cheers followed whenever Argentina failed to score and the mood became upbeat. But when Argentina scored their first goal, the pub fell silent. Only the sole fan in an Argentinian shirt looked smug. The men groaned and put their arms behind their heads.

The rest of the game, fans watched in silence and no one was eating or drinking. “All we had to do was to hold out for 10 minutes,” one man said angrily after the Three Lions lost. TV screens came down and the pub I was in rapidly switched channels on the sole permanent screen. Another fan said: “After scoring a goal, we focused too much on defence. We weren’t in attack mode.”

England head coach Thomas Tuchel’s second half substitutions when he took off the goal scorer and brought on defenders Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly are coming in for furious criticism. This was the third World Cup semi-final England has lost in a row. Tuchel had been brought in to get rid of England’s semifinal curse and defence-first football. “It made zero sense to me. Tactically it was astonishing, to be perfectly honest,” said former England captain Gary Lineker on ‘The Rest is Football’ podcast.

Former England captain Wayne Rooney launched a scathing attack on Tuchel’s gamble. “When we got the first goal, we didn’t look to go and try and score a second goal. Far from it… the gamble Tuchel made was to go with five at the back, which allowed them to dictate the game. Then we couldn’t get out…..The decisions Thomas Tuchel made, we have to be honest on this, have cost us tonight,” he said, “Tuchel has previously... had the bravery to switch things around. But here the head coach appeared as frozen as his players, bringing on Burn and O’Reilly instead of ripping up the script to introduce some of the attacking alternatives when it was clear the tide was not turning,” football journalist Ron Walker wrote.

As if to rub salt into England’s wounds, Argentina’s players unfurled a banner on the pitch with the message: “The Falklands are Argentinian” – even though political messaging is banned at matches. “The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are,” a spokesperson for the UK prime minister said.