​July 15 (UPI) — England will consider a man-marking strategy against Lionel Messi during Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal, manager Thomas Tuchel told reporters.Tuchel spoke about the idea when he met with reporters Tuesday in Atlanta. His Three Lions will meet La Albiceleste at 3 p.m. EDT Wednesday at Atlanta Stadium.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMan‑marking is a defensive strategy in which a defender is assigned to closely track and restrict the movement of a specific opposing player throughout the match.”It’s a big rivalry,” Tuchel said. “It’s two big football nations. … We expect an intense match. We expect an emotional match. I expect a match with a lot of momentum swings. Everything else would surprise me.”The No. 4 Three Lions are half-goal favorites to advance to their second World Cup Final. With a win, they would meet the top-ranked Spaniards for an attempt to match their 1966 title winning run.England’s head coach Thomas Tuchel said he will consider a man-marking strategy against Argentina’s Lionel Messi. File Photo by Christian Brunskill/UPIBut, they’ll need to eliminate the defending champions, led by arguably the greatest soccer player in history.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMessi, 39, totaled eight goals through his first six games of the 2026 World Cup, which tied with France’s Kylian Mbappe for the most of the tournament. Several of those scores came at crucial moments to carry the No. 3 Argentines to the semifinal.Lionel Messi (L) and Argentina will face England in a 2026 World Cup semifinal Wednesday in Atlanta. File Photo by Christian Brunskill/UPITuchel, who criticized his team’s performance in a quarterfinal win over Norway, touted the Three Lions’ improved defense. He also said they need to improve their rhythm, build up and accelerate their attack.He could decide to use a shadow strategy, or keep a player designated as a man-on-man defender on Messi, instead of a zonal scheme. That approach could hinder Messi’s ability to dictate the game’s tempo.Defensive midfielder Declan Rice (4) has been a key contributor for England at the 2026 World Cup. File Photo by Christian Brunskill/UPI”I was thinking of this, if we do a proper old-school man mark,” Tuchel said. “Not sure if we follow through with this idea, but it crossed my mind. I think everyone knows the spaces and everyone knows the spaces where he wants to show up.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”If you analyze the matches, you feel like he sees stuff just earlier than anyone else on the field. It’s just like the ball drops to him. He finds the gap. He makes himself this 2-meter space for his left foot and executes the solution on the highest level.”Head coach Lionel Scaloni said his Argentina players aren’t “playing as bad as people say” at the 2026 World Cup. File Photo by Christian Brunskill/UPITuchel said the Three Lions “found some patterns” to the Argentines’ strategy, but Messi was capable of creating new ones.”That’s his super strength,