ATLANTA ¨C Five minutes from erasing decades of anguish, England turned passive. The painful result: two more assists for Lionel Messi, one more World Cup final for Argentina.
¡°We were so close,¡± England coach Thomas Tuchel said following the 2-1 defeat Wednesday at Atlanta Stadium during a dour postgame session rolling ?on as Argentina celebrated with song, dance and degrees of disbelief alongside their fans seated behind the winner¡¯s goal. ¡°But couldn¡¯t keep the level after we scored. We deserved to be up 1-0... we got passive.¡±
Defense dominated in the first World Cup semifinal without a shot on goal in the first half since 1966 as sparring ¡ª and a little extra ¡ª led to 19 total fouls.
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