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Speaker 1: England had them, and then England gave it away for

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thirty minutes at Mercedes Benz Stadium, England were going to

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the World Cup Final. Anthony Gordon scored in the fifty

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fifth minute, The defense was organized and Argentina looked frustrated

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for half an hour. England were the better team. They

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had shut down Messi, they had limited Argentina to half chances,

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and then in ten devastating minutes it all fell apart.

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Enzo Fernandez equalized in the eighty fifth minute. Lauta row

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Martinez scored the winner in the second minute of stoppage time.

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England won Argentina two, and just like that, the tournament

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was over. So what went wrong? The first problem was

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what happened after Gordon scored. England did what England always

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do when they take the lead in a big game.

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They sat back, They stopped pressing, They invited Argentina onto

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them and hoped the defense could hold on for thirty

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five minutes against a team that had already come from

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behind to beat Egypt and Switzerland in this tournament. You

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cannot do that against Argentina, not with Messi on the field,

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not with Enzo Fernandez and Rodrigo de Paul running the midfield.

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When you give that team time and space, they will

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find a way through, and they did. Gareth Southgate's substitutions

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were too late and too conservative. By the time Enzo

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scored the equalizer, England had been pinned in their own

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half for fifteen minutes. Argentina were controlling possession, Messi was

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finding pockets of space and England's midfield was exhausted. But

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Southgate waited until the equalizer to make changes. At that point,

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the momentum had already shifted. Argentina were flying, England were rattled,

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and there was no tactical adjustment that could stop what

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came next. Harry Kane was invisible. England's all time leading scorer,

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the player who was supposed to be the difference maker

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in a game of this magnitude had zero impact. No

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hold up play, no link up with Foe Den or

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baling Harm, no shots on target. He touched the ball

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in the final third maybe three times in the second half.

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At thirty three years old, in what might be his

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last World Cup. That performance raises serious questions about whether

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Caine can still be the centerpiece of this England team.

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Then there is the physical toll. England played one hundred

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twenty minutes against Norway on Saturday. They went to extra time.

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Balingham produced two goals that saved their tournament, but that

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effort took a physical and emotional toll that was visible

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on Wednesday. Balingham looked spent, the defense looked a step

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slower than usual, and when Argentina turned up the intensity

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in the final ten minutes, England had nothing left to respond.

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But the biggest issue is the same issue England have

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had for forty years. The Argentina curse is real nineteen

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eighty six, the hand of God and the goal of

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the Century nineteen ninety eight, Beckham's red card and the

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penalty shootout twenty twenty two, another penalty shootout loss, and

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now twenty twenty six, a lead that evaporated in ten minutes.

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England have now lost to Argentina at four consecutive World Cups,

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four different generations of players, four different managers, four different

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tactical approaches, and the result is always the same. Argentina

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find a way, England find a way to lose. The

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mentality difference is stark. When Argentina went behind to Gordon's goal.

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They attacked, they pushed numbers forward, they took risks. When

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England went ahead, they retreated, They invited pressure. They played

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like a team that was scared of losing rather than

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a team that wanted to win. That is the story

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of this England team in knockout football. They have the talent.

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Bellingham is one of the best most young players in

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the world. Foden is a Premier League champion, Rice is

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one of the best defensive midfielders on the planet. Stones

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and Waker are elite defenders. But when the pressure is

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at its absolute highest, England shrink, Argentina expand, England shrink,

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and that is why Argentina are in the final and

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England are playing for third place against France on Saturday.

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Quick note This show is produced with the help of

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AI