“My father will always be a reference both in sport and an incredible human being”pointed out his son.
The place that football history reserves for Arppi is linked to Diego Maradona and the Argentine team, because he was the referee of the 1986 World Cup final, when with goals from José Luis “Tata” Brown, Jorge Valdano and Jorge Burruchaga, the “Albiceleste” defeated the tough German team 3-2.
He was the second Brazilian referee to direct a world final after Armando Cezar Coelhowho drove in the World Cup 1982 the decisive match between Italy and Germany, which the “Azzurra” won 3-1.
Arppi and his children had a very good relationship with the Argentine community that lives in Santos and in the city of São Paulo, to the point that they organized amateur matches and championships followed by a Brazilian barbecue.
Before the final on December 18 in Qatar 2022 between Argentina and FranceArppi told a Télam consultation that “he had not decided to support any team” because he maintained the way of thinking inherited from his profession as a referee.
Arppi also had a great relationship with Argentine soccer in the Libertadores Cup in the sixties, seventies and eighties, since he led matches with the champion teams of Estudiantes de La Plata and Independiente.
After Maradona’s death on November 25, 2020, Arppi Filho had expressed his sadness to Télam but also recounted some memories of that 1986 final at the Azteca stadium in Mexico, where Maradona was established worldwide.
“With Diego I never had a problem in that final. He obviously asked me for the time when the game was ending and the Germans came and asked me to continue for more minutes, not to finish it. On the contrary, Maradona was always the one who had problems because of the violence they used against him, we took the fouls because they hit him a lot,” he said on that occasion.
For Arppi, his career as a referee had been a kind of blessing since he managed to direct almost all of Pelé’s career in Santos and Maradona in the 1986 Mexico final. “For me the two must divide the throne of the greatest,” he used to say. .
Source: Ambito
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