George Cohen signed England picture

George Reginald Cohen MBE was an English professional footballer who played as a right-back.

He spent his entire professional career with Fulham and won the 1966 FIFA World Cup with England.

He is a member of the English Football Hall of Fame and was the uncle of rugby union World Cup winner Ben Cohen.

1966 World Cup - Argentina v England.
In spite of all of this history, it was not until the 1966 FIFA World Cup, held in and eventually won by England, that the rivalry picked up the sometimes bitter and fierce edge that it retains. The two teams met in the quarter-finals of the tournament, a game referred to in Argentina as el robo del siglo ("the theft of the century") that England won 1–0 thanks to a goal from striker Geoff Hurst, disputed by the Argentines due to a claimed offside.

The game, however, was particularly noted for the sending off of Argentina captain Antonio Rattín after receiving his second caution of the game. The Argentines considered the second caution to be unfair, including Rattín himself, who had to be escorted from the pitch by police as he refused to leave the pitch. Rattín was cautioned at the start of the match for a lunge on Bobby Charlton. Rattín then fouled Geoff Hurst and received another caution (the use of yellow/red cards would not be adopted until the next World Cup in Mexico) for arguing with the referee for a teammate's foul.

It was reported in Argentina that the German referee, Rudolf Kreitlein, said that he had sent off Rattín because he did not like how he had looked at him, while British newspapers cited the official as having given the reason as "violence of the tongue", despite the referee speaking no Spanish. Rattín's intention appeared to have been to speak with the German referee, as according to the Argentines, he was ruling in favour of the English team. Rattín made a visible signal showing his captain's armband and intention to call a translator.

Ken Aston, the English supervisor of referees, entered the field to try to persuade Rattín to leave, but he only exacerbated the situation since the Latin American teams had already suspected that the English and Germans were collaborating to eliminate them from the competition. After his dismissal, Rattín scrunched the corner flag (featuring the Union Jack) with his hand before finally sitting down on the ground. After the match, England manager Alf Ramsey refused to allow his players to swap shirts with the Argentines (as is traditional after the conclusion of a major football match) and later described the South Americans as "animals" in the press. The Argentine press and public were outraged, and one Argentine newspaper published a picture of the official World Cup mascot, World Cup Willie, dressed in pirate regalia to demonstrate their opinion of the England team.

This has been signed by Cohen, this framed piece measures 22"(w) x19"(h) and comes with a COA.