Argentina 0 England 1
Beckham (pen) 44

Oh well, every cloud has its silver lining - and at least we got a lot of close-ups of Pochettino! :)

I was disappointed in Argentina actually and, particularly, I thought Crespo was a waste of space when he came on. And, sure as heck, they're missing Ayala. Aimar missed some glorious chances, but, Pochettino being Argentina's closest to getting a goal, makes you wonder. England were OK and dogged - but never flamboyant! I just wish that the fans and the media wouldn't insist on these kind of games being "revenge missions".

Now what is needed for England, is just a draw with Nigeria - and Argentina need to beat Sweden. Sweden can qualify with just a draw. I think the Argies will do it; probably England will too. My dream though would be both Sweden and Argentina to go through, which would mean that Argentina would have to win their game 1-0 and England lose theirs 2-0 - or something like that. (Which game to watch??)

I've had my happy moment of the day, so can't begrudge others theirs. However, remember England fans - this was a game won only by a penalty kick and in a stadium which is totally alien to the game of football (let's hope to goodness that that was the last game played there!).

Argentina: Pablo Cavallero, Mauricio Pochettino, Walter Samuel, Diego Placente, Javier Zanetti, Diego Simeone, Juan Sebastian Veron, Juan Pablo Sorin, Ariel Ortega, Gabriel Batistuta, Kily Gonzalez

England: David Seaman, Danny Mills, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Owen Hargreaves, Michael Owen, Emile Heskey

Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy)

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