International duty rarely divides a dressing room quite as cleanly as this. When England face Argentina in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final, three Aston Villa players will be lining up against the man who has spent the last two seasons in front of them in training every week.
Ezri Konsa, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins are all involved for England’s semi-final against Argentina at Atlanta Stadium, with kick-off confirmed for 8pm BST. On the opposite side stands Emiliano Martinez, Argentina’s goalkeeper and Villa’s own long-serving number one, meaning the club is guaranteed representation in Sunday’s final regardless of the result. As this site reported once Argentina’s route to the semi-final became clear, that collision has been building for weeks.
For the five Villa players still involved in the tournament, only just back from a squad that returned to Bodymoor Heath for pre-season training this week, the split allegiance says plenty about how far Unai Emery has taken this group. Villa fans get to watch four of their own compete for a place in a World Cup final, even as the club’s pre-season planning is complicated by their absence.
Martinez Stands Between Three Team-Mates And The Final
According to tournament reporting on Martinez’s run through this World Cup, he kept clean sheets in Argentina’s opening group games before a difficult outing against Egypt in the round of 16, only to respond with one of his strongest performances of the tournament in the quarter-final win over Switzerland. That form has kept him central to Argentina’s push for a place in Sunday’s final.
Standing in his way are three players who know his game better than anyone outside the Argentina camp. Konsa has faced Martinez in shooting drills and training-ground finishes for two years, Watkins has relied on him behind a Villa defence for over a season, and Rogers has watched him marshal a backline from a few yards away every matchday. None of that history counts for anything once the whistle goes in Atlanta.
An All-American Refereeing First For A Historic Semi-Final
The match also carries a landmark of its own away from the Villa contingent. US Soccer has confirmed that Ismail Elfath will take charge, assisted by Corey Parker and Kyle Atkins, marking the first time an all-American officiating team has been appointed to a men’s World Cup semi-final. FIFA’s tournament records show the trio have already worked the group-stage meeting between Japan and the Netherlands, Spain’s win over Uruguay, and Norway’s last-16 tie with Brazil, so Wednesday’s game will be their fourth assignment of the tournament.
Villa’s transfer business has continued regardless of the football on the other side of the Atlantic. Lucas Digne’s likely exit to PSG remains one of the summer’s defining sagas back home, and it is Digne’s own semi-final involvement with France against Spain that has added a second layer to how closely the club’s fanbase is tracking this stage of the tournament.
Whatever happens in Atlanta, Villa Park will have a rooting interest in Sunday’s final either way. Three team-mates against one goalkeeper, with a World Cup place on the line: this is as high-stakes as a Wednesday in July gets for a club still deep in its own summer business.
