The story of Diego Maradona; Football is a game. Where the joy and pain of not scoring are mixed with the fun of the most complex formations and tactics. This great universality of being able to enjoy the game from anywhere has made the game the most popular event in the world. And without a doubt, the biggest football event is the World Cup football. During this four-year tournament, the whole world watches who won and who lost. Because of the game’s ability to capture all human emotions, World Cup football is not limited to winning and losing. This history is the history of people. The 22nd edition of the World Cup will begin in Qatar in a few days. Before that, let’s look back and listen to the story of the 1986 World Cup.
The United Nations declared that year as the International Year of Peace. And this year, one of the tragedies in human history, was the Chornobyl explosion. Bangladesh played the first one-day match in international cricket that year. A child was born in Jamaica that year, his name was Usain. ‘Bolt’ is added at the end of the name – you must have recognized it now! Usain Bolt has stunned the world by running like lightning.
If there were ancient sages, they could have researched that year. Halley’s comet appeared in the sky as a rule of thumb. And the world sees the most dazzling light from arguably the biggest star in football history. The 1986 World Cup is illuminated in that light.
But that World Cup belonged to only one – Diego Armando Maradona.
Apart from 14 European countries, 6 from America and Morocco, South Korea, Iraq, and Algeria participated in that World Cup. In this World Cup, the ‘Wave’ was born in the gallery and until now the fans in different parts of the world have been giving birth to this ‘Mexican Wave’. Some of the best World Cups in history brought Rome to a standstill, such as the France-Brazil match—where football gods Platini, Zico, and Socrates showed off their impeccable style but ultimately proved to be men of clay as they failed to score from the penalty spot.
The tournament coincided perfectly with Maradona’s life. Just as Maradona made the people he loved and loved, he made the masses happy, and the football-business magnates he hated made him float in the sea of profit – that’s Diego Maradona. Enemies and friends all floated in the sea of joy in the ecstasy of his play.
Let’s start with the 1982 World Cup. FIFA President Joao Havelange left for Mexico City after the World Cup ended. The plane he was on was owned by Emilio Azcaraga—the owner of Televisa Mexicana. Although Mexico was set to host the next World Cup, Colombia seems to have realized that day that they do not have the right to host the ’86 World Cup.
Diego Maradona performance in the 1986 World Cup was a surprise
Surprisingly, Maradona’s performance in the 1986 World Cup was a surprise. A few months ago, Maradona’s leg was broken into pieces after a nasty foul in a match for Barcelona. With the strength of mind and hard work, after only 106 days, Maradona was back on the field. But the right knee was almost always there most of the time. Legs had to be fixed with injections. Stepping into this situation is dangerous, Diego Maradona played in the World Cup after slowly recovering. The entire tournament did not understand once, what impossible physical pain is playing!
The coach of the Argentine team was Dr. Carlos Bilardo. In addition to playing, he also passed his doctorate from the University of Buenos Aires, playing a role in Estudiantes Dola Plata’s Intercontinental Cup win over Manchester United. However, in 1976 he left medicine and focused on coaching.
The 3-5-2 playing table of billiards was disliked by many. Among them was his own father. Even the country’s president, Raúl Alfonsín, publicly criticized Bilardo’s tactics. Bilardo still survives with the tenacity of his beloved disciple Maradona. If Bilardo is excluded, I will have to be excluded, he said to his face. After that, a historic journey of the two began. However, the relationship between the two was not always sweet. Rather, in a book written by journalist Daniel Arcucci, Maradona mentions several times that he and others were often very angry with Bilardo.
Senior player Daniel Passarella was injured before the first match against Korea. This injury adds to the cohesion of the team. Diego Maradona had three ‘assists’ while the Koreans fouled a lot, and Jorge Valdano scored two goals on the day.
Diego Maradona had three ‘assists’ while the Koreans fouled a lot, and Jorge Valdano scored two goals on the day.
Valdano felt the relief he got with the first goal after six minutes was more than the final goal! The Albiceleste can also thank the Korean goalkeeper for a 3-1 win in the game. Seeing this goalkeeper named ‘Oh’, his name was uttered by almost all the spectators.
Argentina drew with Italy in the next match. Even though Maradona repeatedly broke Italy’s tough defense that day, the team scored only one goal, and that too from his feet. Valdano and Jorge Buruchaga scored in the next game against Bulgaria. Another legend Platini of France did not start well. France’s first Group C match was a 1-0 win against Canada, with a draw against the group champions Soviet Union.
Brazil also won the first match against Spain and the victory against Algeria in the next match also caused difficulties. However, Brazil returned to form in their final group game against Northern Ireland. With a brace from Karaka and a goal from right-back Josimar Alemao on the day, Branco Juniors set the stage for ‘Jogo bonito’ (beautiful football).
Despite all the stars of that era, Michael Laudrup’s Denmark topped Group E, beating West Germany and Uruguay. Having won the La Liga title five years in a row. Earned the respect of a legend at both Real Madrid and Barcelona. Laudrup is probably not regarded as a legend playing for a ‘smaller country’ with the power of Denmark.
Argentina’s Football ‘God’ Diego Maradona
The biggest surprise was, however, Group F ‘A’. Morocco beat England, Poland, and Portugal to become champions. In the second round with Uruguay, Diego Maradona made four chances, but the team won by only one goal. In the best match of that round, Belgium beat the former Soviet Union 4-3. Brazil beat Poland. And Platini’s France defeated Italy in the quarter-finals for the first time since 1920, giving birth to one of the most beautiful matches in World Cup history.
The Italians’ ‘domestic enemy’ Platini was the best player in the Italian league at that time, he won the team 2-0. France defeated Italy in a recognized international match for the first time since 1920. Socrates on one side and Platini on the other. But the hero of the match was the French goalkeeper Joel Bats. Bats, who wrote poems and songs for children, beat cancer and returned to football.
Before the arrival of God in the world, various signs are seen. Sometimes stars burn in the distant sky, smells in the air, legends have been written about him since many years ago – Argentina’s football ‘God’ Diego Maradona wrote all such legends about the country’s famous newspaper ‘El Grafico’ ‘s Uruguayan editor Ricardo Lorenzo. To the world, he is known as Borokoto.
In the twenties of the last century, Argentina was a shining country of economic development in Latin America, the dreamland of millions of immigrants. Football is becoming a symbol of the unity of this nation as they want to express their identity.
However, there is a debate going on throughout El Graphico as to how football will evolve in that country. The British sport was a symbol of chivalry, masculinity, and Victorian morality to the country’s colonial masters.
Diego Maradona’s father was a boatman from Corrientes in the northeast of the country.
Argentinians, on the other hand, learned the game in stables, in the open spaces of slums, and on busy streets. For the English, the game became about staying on the road, winning at any cost with cunning and cleverness.
Borrocota, therefore, declared that Argentina’s football ‘God’ is not like Britain’s. In 1928, he described the image of the Argentinian god as ‘a scruffy-looking slum boy in shabby clothes, lion’s saffron hair never touched by a comb, intelligent, quick-witted, flamboyant, with a twinkle in a pair of twinkling eyes and the joy of winning by stealing. A smile, a mouthful of small teeth, which have decayed from stale bread.’
His trousers are flapped here and there. The Argentine stripes on the gingham, worn away in places by so much use that they seem to have been cut by invisible rats. The knees are full of bruises, made by the blows of fate, bare feet, or torn shoes, with holes in them. The thumb has witnessed numerous shots. His pose is very familiar as if he is dribbling with a ball made of torn paper.’
(*The word picaresque is almost impossible to translate into English or Bengali. This genre is very important in Spanish literature. Picaresque is the brilliant story of slum children surviving in life by doing various tricks from childhood. In this literature, stealing is shown as noble. Casa do Papel or Money Heist Web Those who watched the series got the idea of picaresque).
Maradona’s story is a movie
He came to Buenos Aires and took his wife with him. His wife worked at people’s houses. The couple lived in a slum called Via Fiorito, a crime hotbed. Growing up in poverty and crime, the child Diego Maradona fell into an open drain one day.
From a distance, his uncle Cirilo saw it and shouted, ‘Dieguito, lift your head above the pile of goo.’ This is exactly what he has been trying to do all his life. In fact, if Maradona’s story is a movie, then that childhood scene is the master shot, which repeatedly highlights his life’s struggles.
Growing up in a slum without electricity or running water, Maradona made a living from his childhood by sometimes opening or wiping taxi doors on the streets, or selling cigarettes or newspapers. And played football. A photo found by chance shows a four or five-year-old Diego Maradona kicking a paper ball against a tarpaulin fence, which is shattered by the impact of the ball. Borokoto used to talk about such a film and this education of football.
To the world’s surprise, an avatar similar to Borocoto’s description appeared in Mexico. He gave the best single performance in the history of the World Cup, he single-handedly made a team champion in the team game football. Not only that he scored some impeccable goals, but those goals are also like those who grew up in the slums of Argentina and won the world with that game, and that too by losing to the English.
‘God’ was felt in front of 115k spectators at Azteca Stadium
June 22, 1986. Just at noon, ‘God’ was felt in front of 115k spectators at Azteca Stadium and several crores on TV. After a fairly dull first half, 6 to 10 minutes into the second half, the football world saw two forms of God. One round the hand, the other around the foot. The goal of an ‘El Pebe’ who wanted to win at any cost, rising from a slum, is the ultimate symbol of another art.
Next? A divine display again against Belgium in the semi-final, winning the team in the final. Cup in Maradona’s hand. His immortal image is on the shoulder of a group of excited fans. What is the importance of this picture? After that, perhaps no player could celebrate after winning the World Cup with the cup on the shoulders of the fans like this.
In fact, the one who was celebrating in Azteca that day was not a star, but God. On this earthly earth, he celebrated the victory of those on whose shoulders he rested, in whose hearts he would live forever.
The real ‘gods’ are like that!
