KEIR RADNEDGE in ATLANTA —- England have met Argentina five times and I have been present for four of them, missing out only on the group match in 1962. That is my credential for judging the duel which is about to be repeated here in Atlanta as the ultimate inter-continental clasico.

England lead the rubber 3-2 but that bare statistic says nothing about the passion, temper, excitement, entertainment, controversy and headlines delivered. England v Argentina is a duel which specialises in world football history.

Think back to the sending-off of Argentina’s giant captain Antonio Rattin in the 1966 quarter-final at Wembley, to the two dramatically contrasting goals by Diego Maradona in the 1986 quarterfinal in Mexico City and the sending-off of a young David Beckham in the 1998 second-round skirmish.

Beckham had his revenge four years later in converting the penalty by which England beat Arentina in a group stage tie in Sapporo, Japan.

Maradona’s Hand of God” goal in 1986 still rankles the most for England even while his subsequent solo minutes later stands as one of the greatest – perhaps, the greatest – World Cup goals of all time.

Impossible, of course, to ignore how the 1982 war over the islands known as Falklands in England and Malvinas in Argentina has cast a lon cloud over the football.

But now, out on the pitch in Atlanta, the focus will dwell on the personal duel between Leo Messi and Jude Bellingham – the old hero against the latest young challenger, wisdom and achievement against youthful exuberance and ambition.

This is a World Cup classic for the ages.

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