A day like today, but 47 years ago, that sacred and immortal bond began between Diego Armando Maradona and the Argentine National Team.
It was the first months of 1977 and the team was preparing for the World Cup that was going to be held in Argentina the following year. Meanwhile, in parallel, in Argentinos Juniors stood out a boy who was not even 17 years old named Diego Armando Maradona, who had debuted just five months ago.
However, that period was enough for his unmatched talent to awaken popular clamor for him to be called up to the national team.
Diego Maradona’s debut in the Argentine National Team
The then technician César Luis Menotti He heard the fan’s voice and summoned him for the match against Hungary on February 27, 1977 on the Boca field.
However, Diego He was on the substitute bench until the 20th minute of the second half when he came on to replace Leopoldo Jacinto Luque.
“Do what you know,” Menotti told “Pelusa,” who jumped onto the field with the number 19 on his back and with the team already winning by a landslide.”
«My legs and hands shook. It was a barbaric noise: the tribune was shouting, what he had told meor Menotti it sounded in my head. I say it honestly, he had a tremendous julep,” the late soccer star said about that experience, as quoted in the book “I am Diego,” by journalists Daniel Arcucci and Ernesto Cherquis Bialo.
In his first intervention, Maradona received the ball from “Tolo” Américo Rubén Gallego and assisted René Houseman, who was one-on-one with the goalkeeper but could not beat him to score the sixth goal, in a match that ended 5-1 in favor of the albiceleste.
“The court of Mouth It is a very good stadium for the National Team to play because it has the public very close. My mom and dad were on the field, they were crazy happy,” he declared. Diego the next day after the debut. Mrs. Tota, Standing next to her son, she also spoke: “When we saw him walk out onto the field, my husband and I started crying with joy.”
Argentina won 5 to 1 with three goals from Daniel Bertoni and two from Leopoldo Jacinto Luque.
maradona.jpg
@afa
At 16 years, 3 months and 27 days, the boy from Fiorito became the youngest player in the history of the Argentine National Team and the people applauded him fervently: he was already well known in the local soccer scene. Diego was not called up again in the next eight games and the next summons would come in August, six months after his debut, to play two games against Paraguay for the Bogado Cup.
And he even had to wait a little more than two years to score his first goal with the light blue and white. It was on June 2, 1979, in the Argentine victory over Scotland by 3 to 1.
After his debut, he spent another 90 games with the National Team shirt, among which there were four World Cups, one won in 1986 and another with runner-up finish in 1990; 34 goals; the captain’s ribbon as an emblem; 10 of the best in the back; a story that is legend… Also won the Youth World Cup in 1979 and the Artemio Franchi Cup in 1993
He reunited with the national team in 2008, where he reached the quarterfinals at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and retired from the substitute bench with 25 matches coached, 18 wins and 7 losses.
47 years ago, Maradona He fulfilled his dream as a kid forged in the pastures of Villa Fiorito. When he was Pelusa and he longed to “play for the National Team.”
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
