Argentina shelved their superior skills and instead concentrated on what seemed a premeditated policy of disrupting England with a spate of petty fouls. Their captain Antonio Rattin arrogantly challenged just about every decision that the referee made and was waving his arms around like a traffic policeman. Finally the referee, a little West German called Rudlof Kreitlin, could take no more of Rattin's disruptive tactics and ordered him off. It was almost comical to see the tiny figure of the referee staring up at the tall, stately looking Rattin and demanding that he leave the field. It was also very sad. It took ten minutes of argument and touchline interpretations before Rattin finally walked. Geoff Hurst, making his debut in place of the injured Greaves, headed the winning goal from a Martin Peters cross to the near post. It was a classical creation that had made-in-West Ham written all over it. For Gordon Banks, it was a record seventh successive England appearance without conceding a goal. This was the first match in which England played without a recognised winger. Ramsey's 'Wingless Wonders' were off the launching  pad. Alan Ball, desperately disheartened to miss the previous two matches to the point where he considered walking out, gave a perpetual motion performance that confirmed that he was in the side to stay. Alf Ramsey described the Argentineans as 'animals', a heat-of-the-moment description that had diplomatic repercussions and led to official protests being made to the British ambassador in Buenos Aires. The sad fact is that Argentina were the most skilful side in the tournament, but they allowed their tempers to over-rule their talent.

Source Notes

TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
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CG