Euroscene: For one protagonist, at least, it's only a game. In a week when Anglo-Argentine footballing rivalry has prompted both the flow of jingoistic ink and the rattle of myriad microphones if not sabres, it is perhaps reassuring to hear someone play down the impact of the forthcoming Argentina v England first round World Cup clash in Sapporo.
Argentina's current number one centre forward, Hernan Crespo, is the speaker and he offered his downbeat thoughts after a training session last week with his Serie A club, Lazio. Crespo was speaking to The Irish Times just two days after Deportivo La Coruna's Argentine midfielder Pedro Duscher became an overnight sensation of the not-so-diplomatic kind when crashing into David Beckham, breaking the unfortunate's Englishman's left foot in the process.
With regard to that forthcoming June 7th confrontation, Crespo expressed the (doubtless futile) hope that people will not invest too much significance into what, without much doubt, is the most eagerly awaited game of the first round at this summer's finals.
"It's obvious that Argentina-England will be the most keenly felt game of our first round because of its tradition and history but people should not forget that this is only a game of football and not overload it with political or other significance," says Crespo.
For Argentina, he argues, it is important to remain focused on the task of qualifying from what is widely perceived as the most difficult of all the first round groups. After all, Argentina have not only England but also Sweden and Nigeria as well to overcome if they are to honour their current status of tournament favourites.
Crespo argues it may well be Argentina's opening game against Nigeria, rather than the second one against England, which could prove the most "delicate".
"As always, the first game, for us against Nigeria, will be all important. From what I hear, Nigeria are not going through a good period just now but that will pass. What happens in the four years between World Cups is one thing but the World Cup itself lasts just one month and it is during that month that you want to be well and play to your best," he says.
Argentina, of course, proved themselves one of the most impressive of all World Cup qualifiers, running away with the South American round-robin marathon group while fancied rivals, most obviously Brazil, struggled. Here again, Crespo strikes a downbeat tone. "In theory, a World Cup qualifying group is very tough but we did well and managed to turn it into a qualification that, if not easy, certainly looked good from the viewpoint of the numbers."
The "numbers" also meant nine qualifying goals from Crespo himself during a run which saw him oust none other than Gabriel Batistuta from the centre-forward's spot in the Argentina team. Needless to say, even at a moment when Batistuta's star is definitively on the wane, the rivalry between the two strikers promps endless Argentine media speculation.
"I have been living with this pressure ever since I started playing for the national team, back in 1995. Nowadays, things are even worse since we both play for opposing teams in Rome. But we both go about our own business and I certainly don't mind the rivalry.
"What is true is that it would be very difficult for us both to play for Argentina. Both of us can only play as the single central target man stuck there up front."
Inevitably, given the huge social and economic turmoil currently being experienced in Argentina, people will look to the nation's footballers to restore some badly needed national pride this summer. Here again, Crespo strikes an intelligent note.
"It's obvious, given what Argentina is going through, that people will look on us as some sort of national saviours. Playing in a World Cup, however, you can't expect to resolve a country's problems. All you can do is give people some moments of joy. For 90 minutes, we can make the Argentine people happy, but only for 90 minutes because we cannot solve the problems of their everyday lives."
Those 90 minutes, however, could be very interesting.
