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Jordan Pickford says England’s players will stay cool in their World Cup semi
Jordan Pickford is confident England will be streetwise enough to keep their cool in Wednesday’s intense World Cup semi-final clash with Argentina.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have the chance to become the nation’s first men’s team to reach the final since Sir Alf Ramsey’s heroes lifted the trophy in 1966.
World champions Argentina stand in their way and the eyes of the nation will be on Atlanta for what is sure to be an electric encounter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Wednesday.
This is the nations’ first knockout meeting since David Beckham saw red for tripping Diego Simeone in England’s agonising World Cup 1998 exit, but Pickford believes they will avoid similar drama.
“I think you’ve seen throughout the tournament our desire to win tackles, we’ve not got into any scuffles or anything,” England’s all-time leading appearance maker at World Cups said.
“We’ve been very well respected within the game. Decisions go our way, they don’t go our way, we just reset, we go again and we let the football do the talking.
“I think that’s what we’ve done throughout the tournament. Apart from Jarell (Quansah’s red card in Mexico), we’ve not had any suspensions, no second yellow cards or anything like that.
“It just shows the mentality we have and we don’t get wrapped up in things like that. We stay focused, we stay together.”
That focus will be vital in what is sure to be a febrile atmosphere as Argentina’s players and fans will Lionel Messi, one of the greatest players in the game’s history, to another World Cup crown.
The 39-year-old has been a force of nature this summer as Lionel Scaloni’s men scraped through to the semi-finals, but England have their own stars in Hary Kane and Jude Bellingham.
“Everyone will talk about Messi because he’s one of the GOATs (greatest of all time) of the game,” Pickford said.
“But you can’t look past the ability and the talent we’ve got in the squad – going forward, defensively, togetherness. We’ve got it all there and that’s what we need to put on show on Wednesday.
“But we also can’t just talk about Messi. They’re a good side and they’re reigning champions.
“They’re a good side but we’ve got so much ability in our squad going forward and we’re hard to break down.
“We’ve got that resilience, we’ve got that togetherness and we’ve got that mentality. That’s what makes a good team.”
England against Argentina holds a lot of history for a variety of reasons, including Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ in 1986 and the Beckham moment 12 years later.
But the background matters little to Pickford and this current crop, who are looking to make it to the World Cup final after reaching the last two European Championship showpieces.
“I think it’s just solely focus on us as England now and us being at our best to beat another top nation,” Pickford said.
“It’s us against them to get a place in the final, and it’s a game of football. 90 minutes, 120, penalties.
“We’re ready for anything, and it’s us against them and it’s about who comes out on top. We’re fully prepared for that.”
