Argentina VP brands England ‘usurping pirates’ ahead of World Cup game—’It’s the Malvinas’ | World | News
The vice president of Argentina lashed out at England ahead of tonight’s World Cup semi final match. Victoria Villaruel, who is the daughter of a Falklands veteran, shared a message through her X account ahead of tonight’s World Cup semi-final.
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 one, go Argentina! Because until our last breath, we’re going to claim what’s ours!”
These comments came after the intervention from Argentina’s foreign minister Pablo Quirno who said the island’s population had been “artificially implanted by the occupying power”.
These remarks followed UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper’s who said “the UK position remains the same” and the issue of sovereignty is not up for debate. Ms Cooper said: “The UK position remains the same. The Falklands are British and they have right to self-determination. That remains the position.”
Replying to Argentina’s vice president’s comments on X, a user said: “If Argentina wins, what is going to happen? What beenfits 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.”
England’s manager Thomas Tuchel said Argentina “are also fuelled by that, they are fuelled by history, it means a lot to them”.
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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