England is facing Argentina tonight in the World Cup semi final (Image: Getty)
The vice president of Argentina lashed out at England ahead of tonight’s World Cup semi-final match. Victoria Villarruel, who is the daughter of a Falklands War veteran, shared a message through her X account in the early hours of Wednesday, ahead of tonight’s World Cup game between England and her country’s team.
She said: “Tomorrow we play against the usurping pirates. This isn’t just another match. I’m not going to be politically correct or cold-hearted; against the English, it’s always something more. It’s the Malvinas, it’s Diego, it’s Leo’s [Messi] last [World Cup], go Argentina! Because until our last breath, we’re going to claim what’s ours!” Las Malvinas is the name used in Argentina to refer to the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory.
England arrive in Atlanta for their game v Argentina tonight. (Image: FA)
Replying to Argentina’s vice president’s comments on X, a user said: “If Argentina wins, what is going to happen? What benefits will that bring for the economic world? You are a demagogue.” Another user added: “It’s just a soccer match, don’t burden the athletes with problems that politicians can’t solve.”
Britain’s sovereignty claim on the Falklands dates back to 1690 and the country has exercised sovereignty on the territory since 1833.
Moreover, the residents of the Falklands overwhelmingly voted in a referendum to remain a British Overseas Territory, rather than moving under the influence of Buenos Aires.
These remarks followed UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper’s, who said “the UK position remains the same” and the issue of sovereignty of the territory is not up for debate no matter tonight’s match result. Ms Cooper said: “The UK position remains the same. The Falklands are British and they have right to self-determination. That remains the position.”
England’s manager Thomas Tuchel said Argentina “are also fuelled by that, they are fuelled by history, it means a lot to them”.
England’s manager Thomas Tuchel. (Image: Getty)
While the rivalry between the two countries is rich in history on the pitch, with Diego Maradona and David Beckham as 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.
But Argentina’s manager Lionel Scaloni said the conflict 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.
He added: “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.”
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Talking about the islands’ sovereignty, Downing Street also said its “position is clear,” and a spokesperson for the PM said: “The UK’s position is clear. The islanders have repeatedly expressed their wish to remain a British overseas territory, and their right to self-determination is paramount. In 2013, the people of the Falkland Islands voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining a UK overseas territory.”
No 10 comments came after the intervention from foreign minister Pablo Quirno who said the island’s population had been “artificially implanted by the occupying power”. He also added that no poll organised “unilaterally” by the UK can have “legal effect”, calling instead for negotiations on the Falklands’ future.
Buenos Aires has repeatedly claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and was defeated in a short but bloody war after mounting an invasion in 1982, the shadow of which hangs over UK-Argentine relations to this day. The islands, known as Islas Malvinas in Spanish, are about 8,000 miles from Britain and 300 miles from mainland Argentina.