There was some “argy-bargy”, sin-binning and fierce tackles as Great Britain’s men clashed with Argentina at hockey and the fans’ band repeatedly played “Rule Britannia”.
But, as the players insisted, the row over the Falklands seemed as distant from the Riverbank arena in the Olympic park as the islands themselves, 8,000 miles away in the South Atlantic.
The political build-up last month saw Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner demanding talks on sovereignty. Britain responded by sending a destroyer. Argentina’s hockey team captain Fernando Zylberberg caused anger with a video of him training at sites around the Falkland Islands including doing step-ups on a war memorial.
Mysteriously, he did not make the squad which reached British shores (apparently for fitness reasons), and up stepped Matias Vila, 33, to captain the side last night, a far more conciliatory character.
Great Britain stormed to victory 4-1 but are likely to be disappointed that the score was not higher. Most of the game was a spectacle of GB’s dominance, while Argentina showed counter-attacking flair.
GB keeper James Fair, 31, said: “There was nothing more than just playing sport, playing hockey and getting the result.” Argentina’s Rodrigo Vila, 30, added: “It’s just sport. We are not thinking now of that situation (the Falklands).”
Captain Barry Middleton, 28, said: “There was some needle out there, but that’s because it is an Olympic Games and if you didn’t see that in a game then it wouldn’t be right. It’s a battle, it’s hard and there were some big tackles but nobody overstepped the line.”
