England v Argentina World Cup match in 2002 was our first kiss

A couple who shared their first kiss at the last England v Argentina World Cup match will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary by watching the fixture once again.

Tom and Lisa Barnard, from Whitwell in Hertfordshire, met on a press trip to South Korea and Japan, before then watching the Three Lions' 1-0 victory at the Sapporo Dome in 2002.

"We think it's quite special that our 20th wedding anniversary falls on another England-Argentina match," Tom said.

Tom was a motoring journalist and was invited on a press trip to a car factory in South Korea.

"To be honest I wasn't terribly interested in football, I was more interested in doing the car factory tour," Tom, 53, explained to the BBC.

"I think Lisa rang up my boss and said 'I don't think he should go, I think it should be somebody who's a football fan' [but she] begrudgingly agreed."

She explained "there was definitely an attraction and I was there in a professional capacity, but I still had a roving eye".

"I was thinking that I would maybe ask her out when we got back home, but, the excitement of the evening I think, got the better for both of us," he said.

In what many perceived as redemption after his sending off against Argentina at the World Cup in France in 1998, David Beckham scored the all-important penalty in the 44th minute.

Tom had been planning a "romantic evening" to celebrate the landmark, however Lisa said she had "put the plans on hold" in light of the semi-final match.

"It is a bit of a weird one really, the way your life turns out," Tom added.

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