1991, Chile, 35th Copa America.
Not long ago, Argentina's core and leader Maradona was banned for 15 months for taking cocaine.
Over the past decade, Maradona has been an idol of Argentina's poor, the god of football, and people have become accustomed to cheering for him and singing for him. Now, the idol has collapsed, God is on leave, and the Argentines are wandering and lost.
However, at this Copa America, they found temporary sustenance.
In the stands, they waved blue-and-white flags and shouted a nickname: "el Pájaro." "el Pájaro", which means "bird" in Spanish, is as light, dexterous, swift and beautiful as a bird, flying freely like a bird.
On the side of the Argentine team, a bird-like figure is active. Like Maradona, he was not tall, agile and quick, making his opponents invincible, except that his face was more handsome, his long hair was more flowing, and his name was Claudio Caniggia.
This copa America Argentina has been through the barriers, winning the semi-finals against their old rival Brazil and winning the championship with a final victory over Colombia. The 24-year-old Caniggia, along with Batistuta, who was 22, who was younger than him, became the feared striker of this Copa America.
The Argentines seem to see Maradona's shadow in them.
Born in 1967, Caniggia was like all Argentine children who love football before the age of 18, dreaming and looking for a way out. At that time, Maradona was a common idol for young Argentines, and Caniggia was no exception.
At the age of 18, Caniggia joined the riverbed.
The young man was not very tall, not particularly strong, and his soft facial contours, his slender, gentle dark brown eyes, often smiling, and his long blond hair that flew in the wind were all too gentle, not masculine enough for professional footballers, not enough to be intimidating.
However, he has enough football talent to make up for these "deficiencies" – if the above is called deficiencies.
Speed, consciousness, dexterity, fast-paced stop-and-go ability, when these qualities are concentrated in one person, that person is the attacking talent that every team craves, and Caniggia is such a talent. Caniggia ran a 100m in 10.07 seconds at a particular year's South American Junior Athletics. With this speed, although it is difficult to become a 100-meter trapeze, it is enough to ride on the green field. And dexterity, consciousness and rapid transformation, playing football like dancing tango, is almost an innate trait of South Americans. With the above qualities, Caniggia is very capable of breaking through opponents in high-speed dribbling, and he often quickly skims the opposing midfield in his own way, and inserts the opponent's penalty area at high speed to create opportunities for teammates or for himself. This is a headache for the opponent: how to deal with it? Head-on blocking? No, you'll be dizzy by his flexible transformations; intercepting behind your back? No, you can't keep up with the speed of others. There is no way but tactical fouls.
Since then, Caniggia has become River Plate's baby, a nightmare for other A-League teams. On the football field, on the right side of the world, gallop at will, give up whoever I am.
After four years at River Plate, he won the league title, the cup title, and an honor of his own: "Argentine Footballer of the Year".
Maradona is the God of the Argentines and has nothing to argue about; but the annual "sir" is also the darling of the masses.
After that, Caniggia went out into the wonderful world outside. In Italy, on the Apennines, the pattern of the "Small World Cup" has begun to take shape, where many of the world's best players cannot hide the light of Caniggia; there is the best defensive system in the world, but it still can't stop him. From Verona, to Atlanta, to the giants Roma, Caniggia quickly conquered the hearts of fans. The enthusiastic Romans praised him: "Caniggia, you take us with the wind, and your heart beats away". Since then, he has had a very romantic nickname: "Son of the Wind", as light and swift as the wind, unstoppable.
If you perform well at the club, you have a chance in the national team. In 1987, Caniggia participated in the national team training camp for the first time. When this long-haired, handsome young man appeared at the training ground with a smile on his face, the big brothers present were very dismissive: Have you come to the wrong place? It's time to make a movie. But Caniggia used his performance to prove that he was a powerful faction, not an idolist, and that making a movie was also a documentary.
For example, in the 1990 World Cup documentary, Kaniggia became the returning male number two. Against Brazil, he received a pass from Maradona and easily pushed the ball into the goal, directly destroying Brazil's defence. The duo, hailed as the world's greatest assist and the most brilliant goal, has been talked about by future generations as a textbook model. After that, against Italy, it was his goal that sent Italy to the penalty spot, which eventually led to Italy's eventual defeat. Two goals from the Celestial Immortals, one to eliminate Brazil, one to kill Italy, Caniggia is like a top killer, a knife swing, can be fatal. Unfortunately, due to the suspension of accumulated yellow cards, he missed the final with Germany, and Argentina lost 0:1 and only finished second.
Compared with the first place, the second place is a little less bonus, more regret, but it is not much for the young Caniggia, he still has a lot of opportunities, and his career has just pushed open a window, and the window is a vast world.
The following year, at the Copa America in Chile, Argentina won the championship, and Caniggia was flying in the wind and soaring.
Unfortunately, in 1993, Caniggia was found to be eating cocaine by the Italian Football Association and banned from the tournament – the same as what happened to his predecessor Maradona two years earlier.
Caniggia is a person with a great contrast in appearance and personality. When he is quiet, handsome and gentle, even a little feminine, looks like a small white face, but once he runs on the court, he is absolutely unruly, hot-tempered, dare to say and dare to do, and often eat red and yellow cards. In the highly anticipated semi-final between the Copa America and Brazil in 1991, the opposing player shoveled him from behind and was elbowed back by him: Caniggia does not threaten, you and I are humble gentlemen?! The result of the "Tiger" threat was to be sent off the field with a red card.
Like Maradona, Caniggia has a special temperament of genius, which requires full trust and suitable space, but unfortunately, roma are not unpopular teams Napoli, Caniggia is not the only star, let alone the core of tactics. Here, the individual has to obey the collective will: there is no right forward, you go to the right side - although you are left foot kicking; if there is no one in the midfield, you go to the midfield - although you are more suitable for playing in the front field; our serie A winning treasure is defense, you have to defend more - although your advantage is in attack... Such arrangements that you have to step on the brakes when you just start, and you obviously want to rush forward but have to retreat, make people very tired, very unhappy, very confused.
Although Caniggia masked his mild appearance with a fiery and straightforward nature, he was lonely, sensitive and fragile in his bones. He needs to vent. He chose the worst of it: drugs.
Superficial scenery, inner torment, professional players also have workplace diseases, they must maintain a high level of competitive status, to communicate with clubs, coaches, teammates to make a good relationship, to always be vigilant against being kicked and injured, hidden in the snow, replaced, put on the bench. Behind the brilliance of their field is the unknown hardships off the field. How to relieve these unbearable psychological weights? Cultural and artistic washing? The influence of opera music? These poor kids who grew up playing football in the streets and alleys don't have them in the dictionary. So some people choose to play life, and some people choose to indulge in alcohol and drugs. From Maradona to Caniggia and beyond, they don't think it's depravity, they just need to vent, they need stimulation, they think, vented, with new stimuli, life will start again.
But it was a road of no return.
Caniggia began a nightmare time when he was loaned to Portugal's Benfica club, but the Portuguese did not buy his account. In April 1995, after a race, Caniggia drove home. Passing through a narrow and secluded street, he was attacked by a group of drunken hooligans who kicked his kicking legs, broke his once-high head with stones, cut his handsome face with broken wine bottles, and then flew away. Caniggia lay in an empty alley, the glory and reverence he once possessed leaving him at that moment, accompanied only by loneliness, coldness, panic and despair. Benfica is no longer a place to live, there is no stadium for him in the vast world, and he does not know where to go.