​ATLANTA – Fans of England and Argentina are ready to “suffer” together in Atlanta on Wednesday, as this World Cup semifinal between two giants of the game is basically as big as it gets.The desperation to win is clear for the supporters and players. Both teams haven’t been great at this tournament but they’re in the final four as they’ve similarly found a way to win.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementEveryone knows how big this is. Both countries live for football. This is a huge rivalry.A World Cup semifinal. Golden generations colliding. Iconic footballing nations. Legends leading the way in Harry Kane and Lionel Messi. Something must give in Atlanta. Only one team can make it to the World Cup final to play against Spain in New York on Sunday. Everyone connected with England and Argentina is desperate.Sat together in a bar in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday, Argentina fan Mariano Di Croce and England fan Neil Smith started chatting in a heartwarming manner about what they both called an ‘historic and ‘iconic’ game in world football.Great rivals on and off the pitch, it turns out England and Argentina have more in common than most people think.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”I think we knew that this World Cup was going to be harder but we didn’t know it was going to be this hard, right?” Di Croce, who had just flown in from Argentina and has lived in Boston, said towards Smith. “The way we suffer the last few games, it’s been the same. The last World Cup we’re in this kind of winning streak and then we lost to Saudi Arabia. That was a big shock. But then we kind of felt we went back, got back on track very quickly, and we had this confidence. Now it’s like, we’re like struggling every single game and we’re suffering every single game. In Argentina, we have this saying where we say that Argentinians were born to suffer. So like this is almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yeah, it’s really hard.”As Di Croce was saying this, Smith was smiling and nodding along knowingly. As an England fan, he understands the suffering. Multiple heartbreaking defeats in semifinals and finals of recent major tournaments, and stretching back many decades, has taken its toll on England’s fans.”The suffering for us has gone on for however long we keep getting close,” Smith said. “1996 sticks in my head. Like, it will always, always, always be tough. If you lose, then it’s on to the next one, and it’s still, you know, the same level of, um, optimism, let’s say! And we’ll go into the next one. But something, somewhere around the experience at this World Cup is a little different.”England FansEngland and Argentina fans walked the streets of Atlanta together on Tuesday evening.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe odd bit of banter and chants flew back and forth. Argentina fans shook hands with an England fan who had a Manchester City shirt on and they simply said ‘Sergio Aguero’ smiled and moved on.England’s fans sang ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Hey Jude’ loudly