Giuliano Simeone: From leg fracture to running his way into Argentine folklore
They might need to rebuild the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
When Lautaro Martinez’s 92nd-minute header hit the back of Jordan Pickford’s net, the roar from the Albiceleste faithful shook the rafters and practically brought the house down.
Argentina are yet again in the World Cup final after a breathless, heart-stopping 2-1 comeback win over England in the second semifinal.
Once again, 39-year-young Lionel Messi was in the thick of things, setting up Enzo Fernandez’s 85th-minute rocket before delivering the killer blow to assist Lautaro.
But the defining narrative of this match lies in the sheer warfare on the pitch.
Throughout this tournament, the defending champions have faced heavy criticism for playing in second gear -- sluggish, heavy-legged, and relying purely on late-game magic. Today, Lionel Scaloni threw the tactical playbook out the window and chose absolute chaos.
For the English, seeing the name "Simeone" on the starting team sheet felt like an immediate glitch in the Matrix, instantly reviving the bitter ghosts of Saint-Etienne '98 when Diego Simeone, the current and long-serving Atletico Madrid manager, famously got David Beckham sent off.
This time, it was the Atletico coach’s 23-year-old son, Giuliano, who was handed a surprise starting berth to unleash a massive psychological gut punch before a ball was even kicked.
This was a brutal physical battleground. The likes of Enzo, Alexis Mac Allister, Leandro Paredes, and Nicolas Tagliafico were all fully up to the task, throwing themselves into a relentless, turbo-charged press. However, Giuliano operated on an entirely different layer of reality; like a bloodhound fixated on a scent, hunting down every loose ball.
Running a double-act on the right flank with Nahuel Molina -- while his Atletico teammate Julian Alvarez led the line forward -- the young midfielder stretched the pitch and pinned England's left side back with desperate urgency.
Giuliano played with a frantic intensity; his energy contagious for teammates and pesky for the Three Lions. Having overcome a horrific leg fracture only three years ago just to return to the elite level, he looked like a man who had waited his entire life to fight this specific war.
His tireless running served as a tactical shield, leaving more spaces for Messi to activate the typical take-ons.
When Anthony Gordon put England ahead in the 55th minute and Thomas Tuchel's side parked the bus, Scaloni recognised that the initial phase of heavy lifting was complete. He hooked a completely spent Simeone in the 73rd minute -- leaving the pitch with four ball recoveries, the second-joint-highest among the Argentines on the night -- and brought on Rodrigo de Paul to unlock the door.
It was a poetic transition; De Paul, the former Atletico enforcer who forged his trademark warfare mentality under Diego Simeone before moving to Inter Miami to join Messi in club colours, stepped onto the pitch to replace the very player who had taken his spot in the starting eleven.
Interestingly, De Paul matched that exact shift by making four ball recoveries of his own in a breathless cameo, while almost assisting with a curler, rendering the tactical swap all the more profound.
The rest is already history. Enzo’s equaliser, Lautaro’s winner, and absolute pandemonium in Atlanta.
Argentina have brought themselves back from the dead yet again, but this time they did it not by waiting for a miracle, not by taking their foot off the pedal for even an infinitesimal time.
Argentina and England share one of international sport's most hostile rivalries, fueled by deep-seated political conflicts over the Falkland Islands (Las Malvinas) that stretch back to the 1982 war and continue to simmer to this very day.
While Messi will dominate headlines, Giuliano Simeone by playing his absolute heart out has run his way straight into Argentine folklore.
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