A few games in the FIFA World Cup did involve two Aston Villa men squaring off as both of their nations clashed in the tournament.
Aston Villa have been represented by ten players in this year’s world cup and now only nine remain following the elimination of John McGinn’s Scotland. They still have Emi Martinez (Argentina), Amadou Onana & Youri Tielemans (Belgium), Evan Guessand (Ivory Coast), Ezri Konsa, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins (England), Lucas Digne (France) and Victor Lindelof (Sweden).
Interestingly, one game involving two Aston Villa men from the opposition sides take place in the round of 32. It is France against Sweden. They would encounter in MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford tonight.
This could potentially lead to two Villa men, Digne and Lindelof face off, should both be fielded. The former has only featured once so far while the latter is also the team captain and has played in all three games at the group stage.
Such is a rare game indeed for the club in the tournament’s history, considering how limited they were in the previous editions. France vs Sweden is not the first game when Aston Villa men from different teams square off. There were two other matches in the FIFA World Cup which also featured two Villa men from the opposition sides. Here are those distinguished games.
The first game involving two Aston Villa men from the opposition side was England vs Sweden in 2002 FIFA World Cup. Two Villa men who got a nod in the group opener was Darius Vassell and Olaf Mellberg. Vassell was deployed as the lift winger and faced off with his teammate in Villa Park, Mellberg who played as the right back.
The match was even and Vassell did not make quite an impact in the game. He was substituted in the 74th minute and replaced by Joe Cole. On the contrary, the Swedish centre back helped to keep England attacking lines at bay after conceding in the first half.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw as both sides were unable to convert plenty of chances to goals they wanted. Sol Campbell headed home first early in the first half before Niclas Alexandersson’s long range shot equalised in the second half.
The second match was the clash between Poland and Argentina four years ago. It was a decisive match in the group stage as both needed a win to advance. Two Villa men who represented both nations are still playing in Villa Park today, Matty Cash (Poland) and Emiliano Martinez (Argentina).
Both played the whole 90 minutes as both of them have been the key men for their own nations, even up to this day. The match was dominated by Lionel Messi and Co and ended in a 2-0 victory for Albiceleste. Yet, Poland still managed to qualify to the knockout stage as Mexico could not pick up a two-goal win against Saudi Arabia.
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