I always thought it started in 1966 when England beat Argentina 1-0 at Wembley in the World Cup Quarter final. There was a lot of 'argy-bargy' after the Argentina Captain was sent off for a 2nd bookable offence:
1966 World Cup
In spite of all of this history, it was not until the
1966 FIFA World Cup, held in and eventually won by England, that the rivalry picked up the sometimes bitter and fierce edge that it retains. The two teams met in the quarter-finals of the tournament, a game referred to in Argentina as
el robo del siglo ("the theft of the century")<a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina–England_football_rivalry#cite_note-14"><span><span>[</span>14<span>]</span></span></a> that England won 1–0 thanks to a goal from striker
Geoff Hurst, disputed by the Argentines due to a claimed
offside.<a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina–England_football_rivalry#cite_note-15"><span><span>[</span>15<span>]</span></span></a>
Rattín is sent off in the historic Argentina vs England match in the
1966 FIFA World Cup
The game, however, was particularly noted for the sending off of Argentina captain
Antonio Rattín after receiving his second caution of the game. The Argentines considered the second caution to be unfair, including Rattín himself, who had to be escorted from the pitch by police as he refused to leave the pitch. Rattín was cautioned at the start of the match for a lunge on
Bobby Charlton. Rattín then fouled
Geoff Hurst and received another caution (the use of yellow/red cards would not be adopted until the next World Cup in Mexico) for arguing with the referee for a teammate's foul.<a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina–England_football_rivalry#cite_note-16"><span><span>[</span>16<span>]</span></span></a>
It was reported in Argentina that the German referee,
Rudolf Kreitlein, said that he had sent off Rattín because he did not like how he had looked at him,<a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina–England_football_rivalry#cite_note-17"><span><span>[</span>17<span>]</span></span></a> while British newspapers cited the official as having given the reason as "violence of the tongue", despite the referee speaking no Spanish.<a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina–England_football_rivalry#cite_note-TheObserver051002-18"><span><span>[</span>18<span>]</span></span></a> Rattín's intention appeared to have been to speak with the German referee, as according to the Argentines, he was ruling in favour of the English team. Rattín made a visible signal showing his
captain's armband and intention to call a translator.<a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina–England_football_rivalry#cite_note-19"><span><span>[</span>19<span>]</span></span></a>
Ken Aston, the English supervisor of referees, entered the field to try to persuade Rattín to leave, but he only exacerbated the situation since the Latin American teams had already suspected that the English and
Germans were collaborating to eliminate them from the competition.<a href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina–England_football_rivalry#cite_note-TheGuardian020225-13"><span><span>[</span>13<span>]</span></span></a> After his dismissal, Rattín scrunched the corner flag (featuring the
Union Jack) with his hand before finally sitting down on the ground. After the match, England manager
Alf Ramsey refused to allow his players to swap shirts with the Argentines (as is traditional after the conclusion of a major football match) and later described the
South Americans as "animals" in the press. The Argentine press and public were outraged, and one Argentine newspaper published a picture of the official
World Cup mascot, World Cup Willie, dressed in
pirate regalia to demonstrate their opinion of the England team.
