00:00Ollie Hogburn is a TV sports commentator.
00:03Ollie, thanks for joining us.
00:04So the world's top four in the semi-finals.
00:07Does this make fans around the world more excited about the tournament
00:11or will some of them miss that underdog story?
00:15We've had a lot of really good underdog stories, haven't we, at this World Cup.
00:18It's quite funny, isn't it?
00:20A 48-team tournament and all of these moments
00:24where nations that have never had a global profile suddenly have one.
00:28And yet at the end of it, we are left in very unusual circumstances
00:33with the top four here.
00:35I think there are some very happy fans of those four nations.
00:38There are some very unhappy fans of other nations.
00:40But I think any team that makes the semi-final stage at a World Cup
00:44has earned its place.
00:45Which of these four semi-finalists have impressed you most so far?
00:50All of them in different ways.
00:53Only one nation didn't really have any struggles to get to the last four.
00:57Well, that's France.
00:58They beat Morocco 2-0 quite comfortably in their quarterfinals.
01:01I think they stand head and shoulders above most other teams at this World Cup.
01:07Spain, England and Argentina all had tough, yeah, I would say tough semi-finals
01:13that turned on one incident.
01:16Spain benefited from the unfortunate loss of Thibaut Courtois in the Belgian goal
01:20due to injury.
01:21They capitalised on a less experienced goalkeeper, got a late winner.
01:25England probably would have been 2-0 down had Sir Lott made an easy pass,
01:30or pretty easy pass, to Holland rather than trying to score himself.
01:34Argentina took control of a quarterfinal that was very finely balanced
01:37when a Swiss player dived in a very brazen and rather embarrassing way
01:42and got sent off after a correct video review.
01:44So, one nation has come through the quarterfinal stage very calmly.
01:48The other three probably all breathe a bit of a sigh of relief.
01:51England and Argentina have that long-standing and intense rivalry.
01:55How much does that factor into a game like this?
01:59That's a really interesting question.
02:02To fans, probably hugely.
02:05To players, maybe less so.
02:08I think one of the exciting things about sport is the way that we all,
02:12as bystanders, editorialise and bring our own emotional journey
02:20into any sporting fixture.
02:22That's part of the fun of it.
02:23That's what makes sport exciting.
02:25From the point of view of the players, I mean, Lionel Messi, for example,
02:28has never actually faced England before.
02:31Do they care any more than playing any other nation to get to a World Cup final?
02:37There's probably a less romantic answer, which is, no,
02:40they're just there to win a football match.
02:43But all of the noise around it is great entertainment.
02:46And, Oli, just very quickly, who are your two finalists?
02:50I knew you were going to ask me that.
02:53Look, I think France is very hard to look beyond.
02:58Third successive final, probably, for them is in store.
03:01I wouldn't be surprised if we have another France-Argentina final.
03:04But I will just say, in my lifetime,
03:06England have never looked as strong at a World Cup as they do here.
03:09So just for variety's sake,
03:10I will say England will make their first World Cup final since 1966.
03:14And we all know what happened there.
03:15That's what I like to hear.
03:17So we look forward to that game on Wednesday.
03:18Oli Hogman, TV Sports Commentator.
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